Smile 'N Wave
by Treemist1022
Summary: Two years after the separation of the Penguins and Team Watermelon, the gang gets back together in this all new adventure, full of plot twists and crazy turns and a plot against the entire world, but what might be the hardest thing for either of the teams to understand is that people change, and sometimes not for the better. (CnC sequel, rating for violence and darker themes.)
1. The Reunion

**Me: IT'S MONDAY! Argihjsjtsghdtyhfh! I don't think I should be this excited about my own story...**

 **Kia: Guess who's back! Did you miss me?**

 **Me: YES! Kia you have no idea what it was like, Ty was too mean, Harvey was too nice, and Nutmeg thought I was too mean! *hugs Kia***

 **Kia: Okay Misty, you can stop hugging me now.**

 **Me: No, you are never leaving the author's note ever again.**

 **Kia: Misty, we have to start the chapter, let go.**

 **Me: Fine, but you are never leaving Evah Evah again!**

 **Kia: Oh dear.**

 **Me: Anyways CnCuddlers, guess what!**

 **Kia: Is it the CnC sequel?**

 **Me: Yes it is the CnC sequel! I finally got it out, it's been a long month without CnC, but we're back.**

 **Kia: How exciting.**

 **Me: So as you can see, the rating is already T. The reasoning behind that is because SnW is a bit darker than CnC, you'll find out why later.**

 **Kia: Time for the disclaimer?**

 **DISCLAIMER: I Misty, do not own Penguins of Madagascar in any way or form, nor do I own any of the characters in the show and or movie, however I do own my CnC universe and all Ocs within that universe, I also own a pair of penguin footie pajamas, but that isn't relevant. (This is here for the entire story since I'm to lazy to put it on every chapter.)**

 **Kia: Alright then, let's end this extremely long AN and let the CnCuddlers read.**

Kowalski stood in the General's office with his flippers behind his back as he waited patiently for the General to come back in and brief him, and soon enough General Frost re-entered the office and waddled over to his seat before sitting down.

"Anyways, where was I?" The general asked, he had been briefing the scientist on something before being called away for something, but he had returned shortly.

Kowalski looked at him. "You were briefing me sir." He explained and the old penguin nodded.

"Right-Agent Quinn, the situation in Greenland has gotten worse, and they need you over there, apparently their scientists are dropping like flies, and since you are one of the best out there, they need you." General Frost explained.

Kowalski had to admit, he was flattered, but he couldn't go to Greenland, at least not for a day. "When would I leave?" He asked simply, after all he hadn't been on a mission in some time.

Frost looked at him. "You would leave as soon as possible, preferable within the hour." He explained and Kowalski winced.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline sir, as Kia is also away on a mission, that would leave no one to watch over Kolette, and so unless I can go once Kia returns, I'm going to have to refuse." He explained simply.

Frost gave a small smile. "It's always nice to see you care about your family soldier, but they need you there right away, Kia will be back tomorrow after all, and it would be good for you to get back out there." He said.

Kowalski looked at him. "But who would watch Kolette? She's to young to be left alone." He stated and Frost once again smiled.

"I can watch her until Kia gets back, Koko and I get along great, besides I haven't gotten to see her in a few days, I would happily watch my great granddaughter." He said happily.

Kowalski looked at him. "Are you sure sir?" He asked and Frost nodded.

"Its not like she causes any trouble or anything, in fact she's one of the best behaved two year olds I know, you are needed in Greenland, and Koko can stay with me until Kia gets back." General Frost insisted.

Kowalski nodded. "Alright then, if you're sure-I'll go get ready." He said and Frost dismissed him and the tall penguin waddled out of the office, he made his way over to his igloo and waddled in and instantly a fluffy little penguin chick ran up to him and hugged his feet.

"Daddy!" The chick said happily and Kowalski smiled and knelt down so he was her height.

"Hi Koko, where's auntie Madeline?" He asked and right then Kowalski's sister, Madeline waddled over. Madeline had grown a bit over the past two years, and she now was a lot more mature than she had been.

"Hey Kowalski, you're back-what did the General want?" The penguin asked as Kowalski waddled further into the igloo. Kowalski glanced over at his sister. "They need me in Greenland Immediately, apparently the situation there has gotten far worse, I have to leave right away." He explained.

Madeline nodded in understanding and glanced down at the little gray feathered penguin chick that was still clinging to her father. "What about Koko? Kia's not back yet." She said.

Kowalski nodded. "Kia should be back from Africa tomorrow, and until then General Frost has offered to watch her." He explained and Madeline looked at him.

"You know, I can watch her too." She said a little stubbornly and Kowalski nodded.

"I know, but it's going to be at least twenty four hours before one of us is back, I would prefer it if someone who has had a little bit more experience with children is watching her until then." He explained and Madeleine agreed that that made sense.

She looked at him. "When do you leave?" She asked and Kowalski shrugged simply.

"As soon as I can."

 **CnC**

Nika looked around the camp, it had been two years since they had gotten here, and things weren't any better, the zoo lemurs had actually done fairly well to the change from a pampered zoo to the wild.

The lemur sighed as she looked around, the camp was a lot emptier then it had been two years ago, so many good lemurs were gone, and it was all because of one stupid war, as she was looking around she noticed that even Micky, the young lemur child was helping around.

Tina, Hugo, and Micky were about ready to head off to collect something else to eat, while Maurice and Mort cleaned out the campsite, it was then that Nika realized one lemur was not in the camp, and she began to panic.

Right then, someone put their paws on her eyes. "Guess who." The voice and Nika's instinct took over as she grabbed one of the wrists of the stranger and knocked him onto the ground.

Julien groaned. "Okay, owe-I was just like, sneaking up behind you cause you looked totally stressed again, and then you attacked me?" He asked and Nika helped him up.

"Sorry Julien, I don't like surprises." Nika explained and sat down, the two were on the tree they liked to go to, from the tree they could see the entire camp and it was a bit of a special location.

Julien sat down beside her and let his feet dangle of the edge of the tree. "So why are you totally stressed out now?" He asked her.

Nika kept her eyes on the camp as she answered. "Ve have lost so much over zee last two years, I'm vorried of vut else ve vill loose." She explained, bowing her head slightly, maybe they wouldn't have lost who they did if she had been a bit more prepared.

Julien could tell Nika was once again blaming herself for the deaths of Daisy and Tip, but it wasn't her fault, it never had been. "Nika, you worry way too much, we haven't had any deaths in like a year, you need to be relaxing." He told her and Nika turned to look him in the eyes.

"How can I relax vhen Clemson is acting dictator of all Madagascar, and L.A.L.A is at his command vith a vave of his paw? Ve are just lucky they have not found our camp yet, it is our only advantage." Nika explained.

Julien looked at her, getting slightly lost in her chocolate brown eyes before snapping out of it. "It's not our only ad-van-te-age." He said and Nika looked at him curiously. "We also have you!" He said happily.

Nika looked at him for a second or two before getting up, avoiding eye contact with him. "I'm going to patrol ve area again." She said and began to climb down the tree.

She made it to the bottom of the tree and grabbed her spear and cloak she had made before grabbing her dagger as well and walking out of the camp, leaving Julien to wonder what he said that clearly upset her.

 **CnC**

Skipper looked over the battle plans again as he stood alone in his office, he had been given an office and everything since the base there in Greenland mostly had new recruits and younger agents, most of them were around Private's age of 21 or younger.

Hans had really gone all out with this, and that was something that made Skipper mad, last he had checked, Hans was completely content to stay in the Hoboken zoo, but something must have happened for him to make his way all the way over to Greenland and start purposely causing trouble.

It wasn't an all out war yet, but there had been a lot of mysterious disappearances, especially when it came to the scientists, and over all, penguins would suddenly vanish, and there had been a few skirmishes with the puffins over the past few years, but nothing to big yet.

Right then there was a knock on his door and he turned around sharply to see a young penguin agent that went by the name of: Rebecca Rose, enter.

Rebecca looked a little nervous to be talking to such a legend, but she calmed herself down as she waddled over to his desk. "Sir, news has just come from the HQ, they're sending a top scientist to our base here to help us, hopefully he won't disappear like the others have..." She whispered the last part quietly.

Skipper turned to the girl and accepted the files from the girl, it didn't say who the scientist was, it just said he would be arriving soon, and that he was one of the best scientists in the P.I.O, apparently he had helped create a lot of new inventions for the P.I.O over the past two years.

"What's this scientist's name?" He asked and Rebecca looked down.

"They didn't give us a name sir, just that he will be arriving shortly." She explained.

Skipper nodded in understanding and suddenly his eyes widened in surprise as he looked over the file, he couldn't be absolutely certain, but he had a good idea of who the scientist was now. "Rebecca, go get agent Private Mathews and agent Rico for me." He ordered and Rebecca nodded as she started to leave.

"Yes sir, should I send them into your office?" Rebecca asked timidly and Skipper nodded and the little penguin nodded before leaving the office.

Skipper smirked slightly at the file, if his gut was right, he had a feeling Rico and Private would

want to know right away. He took a sip of his fish coffee and placed the file back on his desk, smiling as he thought about telling the boys.

 **CnC**

Ty hated traveling by boat, she had only done it a few times, but every single time she had, she had gotten really sick, but as soon as she was on solid ground she was once again fine.

She had left Japan days ago, and the boat she had stowed away on had taken a turn for the worse once some fierce storms struck, Ty wasn't even sure they were still on the right track, she was just glad she hadn't died yet.

The cat wasn't even on the boat anymore, she had grabbed a lifeboat and had somehow gotten lost at sea from the last hectic storm that had literally tossed her overboard, and now the cat was just floating along the sea, unsure of where she was at all, but it was fine.

Ty didn't actually know where she would go, she had left New York two years ago and had found herself exploring all of Asia in search of answers to Operation: Story, but she still hadn't found anything, Ty felt like she was going down a dead end.

However she kept on receiving maps on where to go next, but she lost the map as soon as she started off in that direction, it was like someone was playing her like a puppet, and she was just going around in a wild goose chase.

Her last map had brought her to the ship she had taken, but it seemed to be useless, as she had just ended up on some life boat, flouting aimlessly among the sea.

Right then, her lifeboat hit a wave and Ty's eyes widened. "Oh no, not more water!" She complained as the wave completely covered her and her little lifeboat.

Ty swam to the surface and let out a gasp for air, and when she did she found that her lifeboat was no where to be found, however there was an island not to far from her.

The cat began swimming towards the island, she hated water, she really did, it was sickening, cruel, and freezing cold most of the time. Ty had never been on good terms with water.

She finally made it to the island and pulled her soggy wet body onto the sand and plopped herself down, completely exhausted from her swim, she could have fallen asleep right there if she wasn't so aware of the sand sticking to her fur, and she hated it when she was dirty.

Ty sighed and sat up before she began to groom herself, cleaning all the sand off her, her small duffle bag was still strapped to her back, which the black and white cat was thankful for, she didn't know what she would do if she lost her supplies.

After she was done cleaning and drying herself, Ty stood up and looked at the tropical type scenery before her and her light green eyes widened in amazement as she looked around the island. "Where am I?" She asked curiously.

 **CnC**

Rico grinned as he tested out the next weapon, he liked it here, they let him try out all the new weapons, he was a weapons expert after all, and he even had a special room that was just for him to try out new weapons, he loved it.

The penguin finished trying out the last weapon and hacked up a small little notebook and began marking things down, since he tried out all the weapons first, he was also supposed to mark which ones worked the best and which ones needed improvement.

After he was done with that, he began to put all the weapons back where they belonged, he had been told on his first week here that he had to put all the weapons back where they belong, and at first Rico wasn't too happy about that, but he had gotten used to it and now it was just second nature to put things back where they belong when he was done with them.

Rico finished putting things away and stretched, right then his stomach let out a ferocious growl and Rico chuckled, maybe it was time for a snack.

The crazy penguin waddled out of the weapons testing room and made his way through the busy hallways over to the cafeteria where all the food was.

He smiled and licked his beak as he grabbed a tray and started to get himself some fish, honestly sometimes the fish here was horrible, and other times it was really good, Rico hoped it was one of those days.

He got himself some fish before waddling over to a table and sitting himself down. He didn't know where Skipper or Private was, but they would probably get lunch themselves soon, and then they could catch up again, since they had been at the base, it had become a bit harder to constantly keep up with each other.

Skipper was always off doing some captain things that were classified, Private was usually helping some of the younger agents practice or something, and Rico himself was usually off doing his own thing, whatever that may be.

However they did have weekly poker games to keep in touch and to make sure the many different jobs they had been given didn't interfere with that.

Right as Rico was about to eat, a small girl penguin waddled over, she looked a bit nervous.

"Um, Agent Rico sir-Agent Barnes has requested your presence in his office immediately." Rebecca said timidly, not keeping eye contact with the more experienced penguin.

Rico let his shoulders sag as he looked down at his tray of food. "Wha?" He asked, looking at his food. and then went off in gibberish but Rebecca didn't understand what he was saying. Finally Rico swallowed all of his fish at once and discarded of the tray before he started to make his way over to Skipper's office, still a little upset that he hadn't been able to finish his food.

 **CnC**

Kia put her plane on auto pilot and sat back and relaxed in her seat, she had been sent to Africa to deliver a very important package that Frost had said it had to be Kia to deliver it.

But now that the package was in Africa, Kia could happily relax as she flew back to Antartica to be with her family, it was nice to go on a mission again, she hadn't been on one in a long time.

Kia stifled a yawn and got out of her seat and waddled into the passages seats, she waddled over to a green backpack and opened it up to reveal that the inside was pink. She looked through it for a minute until she found a picture and pulled it out.

She smiled at the picture, which was one of her, Kowalski, and their kid: Kolette Kendra Quinn, Kia smiled warmly at it. "I'm coming home." She promised the picture, Kia had been gone for about a week, and she had begun to miss her family two days into the mission.

Kia was just happy she was able to go home now.

As she was looking at the picture, the plane hit some turbulence and she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her face. "Owe." She muttered and got back up to see that the backpack had also fell over, and when she went to go pick it up, she spotted another picture poking out of the backpack.

Kia looked at it curiously before slowly pulling the picture out of the backpack and looking at it, and instantly she frowned.

The picture was on her, Nika, Ty, and Nutmeg, her team. Team Watermelon to be exact, they went their separate ways two years ago, and Kia hadn't talked to them since. "I wonder where they all are right now..." Kia said quietly and right then the plane hit some more turbulence.

Kia tumbled forward and got back up. "Okay, what is the problem?" She asked and waddled hurriedly over to the pilot's seat and sat down, turning auto pilot off and taking control of the plane once again, she looked around trying to see what the problem was and then she spotted it.

"Out of fuel? I thought those Africans fueled me up before I left!" Kia said as the plane slowly began to go down.

Kia grumbled. "Great." She said and started trying to fix the situation, but the plane was already plummeting to the ground, luckily though, it seemed to be aiming for an island.

The plane crash landed onto the beach of the island and Kia got tossed out of the plane that was now on fire and the backpack landed on the ground next to her.

The penguin groaned softly as she got buried in the sand, it would seem that today was just not her lucky day. Kia slowly sat up and rubbed her back. "Ouch." She whispered and right then the fire grew even bigger right before her eyes and Kia sighed. "I just don't get a break today, do I?"

 **CnC**

Private jumped out of the swimming pool and shook some water droplets off his feathers, he had just finished going over some swimming routines with some cadets that were stationed there, he had figured they could use some advice, and they had really appreciated it.

"Thanks Private!" The cadets called from the water, as they started going over the routines that Private had showed them.

The penguin smiled and turned back to them. "Your welcome, and if you need any more help, I'll be nearby." He told them and they nodded before the private finished drying himself off and began to head out of the swimming room.

He was happy to help whoever needed it, whenever they did, it was nice to have a peaceful day once again since they usually didn't get any.

Right then, a girl penguin waddled over to him, she seemed much less nervous around him than she had the other two. "Private!" Rebecca greeted happily and Private smiled and felt a slight blush come on just from seeing the pretty penguin.

"Oh hello Rebecca, are you going for a swim?" He asked, taking notice of the fact that they were just outside the swimming pool.

Rebecca shook her head. "No I'm afraid not, I'm actually here to talk to you." She explained and Private gave a bright smile.

"Really?" He asked and Rebecca nodded.

"Yes, Agent Barnes has requested your presence in his office right away." Rebecca said and Private felt his heart drop.

He sighed. "Oh-right, thank you Rebecca." He said and gave her a small nod before he began to waddle away towards Skipper's office, looking at the floor as he did so.

Of course Rebecca hadn't just wanted to talk to him, Private was just Private, and Rebecca was a beautiful and talented penguin, of course she wouldn't be interested in him, but it still hurt a little bit.

Private tried to push Rebecca out of his mind as he waddled over to Skipper's office and knocked on the door before entering. "Skippah, you wanted to talk to me?" Private asked as he waddled in.

He spotted Rico and waved to him. "Hello Rico." He said and Rico waved back to the British penguin, now they were just waiting for Skipper to tell them why he had requested them here.

Skipper turned to them and smiled as he tossed the files onto the desk in front of them. "Boys." He started and Rico and Private waddled over to the desk and looked at the files, wondering what Skipper was going to say. "Take a look at those files." He ordered and they did so. "What do you see?" He asked.

Private looked at the files and shrugged. "Um, we're getting a new scientist Skippah?" He asked and Skipper nodded.

"Exactly, but we're not getting just any scientist, we're getting Kowalski."

 **CnC**

Nutmeg put the binoculars down and turned to a bunch of other squirrels she was with. "Alright soldiers, this is it-those fossa messed with the wrong squirrel agency with quite the bitter name." She said and the squirrels looked at her, taking in everything she said.

"Miranda, Arnold, you take the left side and yes I mean my left not your left Arnold." Nutmeg ordered as a squirrel put his paw down. "Benny, Cody, you take the right side." She ordered and two more squirrels nodded.

Just then a brown squirrel smirked at her. "So that means I'm with you Watermelon." He said cockily and Nutmeg rolled her eyes.

"No Archer, you're with the two new cadets: Izzy and Paul, I'm on my own." She explained simply and Archer raised an eye at the squirrel.

"Alone? What is it with you and going it alone? You never want us to help." He complained and folded his arms, upset although her plan to retrieve the object the fossa had taken was brilliant, he was unable to spend time with her.

Nutmeg folded her own arms. "I prefer to be on my own team, and the reasoning behind that is classified, besides we get things done better this way, now stop complaining and take the cadets and round the fossa from behind, retrieve the object and head back to the sub and get back to base." She ordered and Izzy, a little black squirrel raised her paw.

"Um Major Watermelon ma'am, what about you?" The squirrel asked innocently.

Nutmeg gave a small smile down to Izzy. "I'll find my own way off the island, I'm supposed to get something else, and that's all I can tell you, the rest is classified, now get in your positions, no more arguing-that's an order Archer." She said turned her dark green eyes to look at the brown squirrel.

Archer looked like he was going to protest, but decided again it. "Understood ma'am." He said and gestured for the two cadets to follow him as everyone got in position.

Nutmeg waited until she was alone until she dropped the act and let herself relax, she hated having to be so cold to them, but it was the only thing that ever got through to them, she began to walk through the Madagascar jungles to retrieve the object she was sent out to get.

She preferred to go alone because no matter how much they could try to be her teammates, Nutmeg would only ever belong to one team, and when she wasn't working with Team Watermelon, it just felt wrong.

Nutmeg sighed and stopped walking as she sat down at a tree, being in Madagascar had opened up a wound she had sealed up long ago, thoughts of her past team floated above in her head, and being so close to those memories of her team made her chock up a little bit: her crying was not something her team needed to see.

 **CnC**

As expected, Rico and Private couldn't be happier when they heard that it was Kowalski who was coming to Greenland, and would be arriving soon, and so fairly soon, the three Penguins were waiting in the landing bay for the plane Kowalski was taking to land, it would only be a few more minutes before the team was back together.

Of course, Private and Rico had expressed some concerns about Kia and the egg, would they be with Kowalski? Would he only be at the base temporary until he headed back to Antartica, there were so many questions, whatever happened to his and Kia's mission with rehabilitating Hazel?

Right then, a small jet came into view, and the three boys couldn't help but smile as they saw the plane come closer, and as it was getting closer, all of a sudden, something shot it out of the sky, and Skipper's, Rico's, and Private's eyes widened in shock as the jet began spiraling out of control and would soon crash land.

Skipper realized where the plane would crash land and instantly turned to all the agents in the area. "Everyone get out of the way, we have a jet coming in hot!" He yelled and as soon as the other agents saw the plane that was spiraling down at them, they all screamed and began running towards the doors to get out of the way.

Once everyone but Skipper, Rico, and Private were out of the way, the plane was about to crash land and Skipper turned to Rico. "Rico." He ordered and Rico hacked up a giant umbrella and opened it up and put it in front of them for protection.

The plane crashed landed and when the smoke cleared, the Penguins were able to get a good look at the damage, the plane wasn't on fire, so that was good, but it was extremely banged up, and wouldn't be of much use in the future.

Skipper, Rico, and Private all slid over to get a better look. "Private-get anyone in there out. Rico, clear away this smoke." Skipper ordered and the two saluted before each going off to do their assigned jobs.

Right then, Skipper spotted a gleam coming from the rubble and waddled over, he picked it up to see what had penetrated the plane and he glared as he recognized the workmanship of the puffins. "Hans." He said angrily, how had Hans known about the incoming plane? How far was that maniac willing to go to get revenge on Skipper?

Right then, Private called him over. "Skippah! You'll want to come see this." Private called and Skipper glanced over at Rico and they both waddled over to where Private was.

He was standing in front of some of the passenger seats in the jet, where a tall penguin stood unconscious in his seat with his head hanging down and he was smudged black.

Skipper's eyes widened when he realized who it was. "Kowalski!" He said in realization and turned to Rico. "Rico, get him out of there, Private get a medic, we have to make sure he's alright." He said.

Rico quickly got Kowalski out of there and they checked for a pulse, and luckily there was one, but it was faint. Soon they were able to get a medic and they wheeled Kowalski off to the hospital wing for medical attention.

Skipper turned to Private. "Was he alone?" He asked and Private nodded. "Good, I don't know what I would have done if his family was in there." He said.

Private looked up at Skipper with big eyes. "Who would do this Skippah?" He asked.

Skipper instantly glared as he turned away from his team. "Hans." He said darkly.

 **CnC**

Kia sighed as she continually tried to get a signal through her ear piece. "HQ come in, this is agent Quinn, I crash landed on an undefined island, HQ come in." She tried but to no avail and she let out a growl of frustration, this was getting her no where.

Meanwhile, Nutmeg had just heard a growl of frustration and stood up at full attention as she pulled a gun from her side and glared, whatever it was out there would not get the best of her.

However, only a few feet away from the squirrel and the penguin, who both seemed to be in the same area, there was Ty, who was just exploring the area, trying to find out where she was, when all of a sudden she heard a twig snap and she instantly stood up straight and glared.

And while all this was going around, Nika had heard all those noises and instantly assumed it was L.A.L.A or Clemson, or both, and they needed to be stopped.

So unbeknownst to each other, all of Team Watermelon stood just in front of a small clearing, hiding in shadows from all different directions, completely unaware that the creatures across the clearing were each other.

Suddenly Ty had had enough and she took a step out of the clearing as she pulled some nunchucks out of her duffle bag and got them at the ready. She let out a hiss and right then Nutmeg climbed down the tree and pointed her gun at the cat.

"Not another move cat, who are you? Are you working for the fossa?" Nutmeg asked, she didn't quite recognize Ty because she looked a bit different then she used to.

Ty glared. "What's a squirrel doing on a tropical island?" She asked and right then Kia tripped on her feet again and tumbled into the open.

Kia stood attention as soon as she saw the cat and squirrel and she instantly pulled tow electric rods out of the backpack and had them at the ready, and right then Nika leapt down from the tree she was hiding in, her brown cloak covering her eyes as she did so.

So now, we had all of Team Watermelon, glaring at each other defensively, now the reason that they didn't recognize each other right away was because they all looked quite a bit different.

Nika had a brown cloak that hid her face from the others, and she had a spear at the ready in one hand, and a dagger strapped to her side.

Kia had the backpack draped over her shoulders and she also had on a pink beret that had s bright pink bow sewn onto it, she was the most recognizable, but since everyone was so caught up in the moment you can understand why they didn't instantly recognize her.

Ty no longer had her long silky fur, she had cut her fur not long ago, so now she had fuzzy soft short fur that was just barely starting to grow back, she looked much more fluffy than she used too, and she had a duffle bag strapped to her back, and nunchucks at the ready.

Nutmeg was wearing a light green hat that resembled the top of an acorn, she was also wearing a light green mask that covered her eyes, and matching light green gloves that covered her black paws, and boots that did the same, she also had a sash draped on and two guns that were positioned on her belt that she wore.

They didn't quite look like the same old Team Watermelon that they had once been.

While everyone was staring and glaring at each other, Kia stopped and looked at them all instead, she couldn't help but realize the similarities from these animals to her friends and suddenly it clicked and she grinned. "Nika?" The lemur turned to face her. "Ty?" The cat looked at her. "Nutmeg?" Kia finally asked and Nutmeg turned to her.

They all looked at her in amazement before they all spoke at the same time: "Kia?"

Ty smirked. "Well isn't this The Reunion of a lifetime?" She asked playfully and smiled, happy to see her team.

 **Me: So there's the first chapter, I'm so excited that I'm finally able to get this story out.**

 **Kia: This is way more fast paced than CnC's first chapter, not that I didn't love the first chapter of CnC, I do, I didn't mean to say that I didn't or anything, you know, I'm just rambling now, I'm gonna be quiet now.**

 **Me: Good idea. Anyways, I'll update again Wednesday, so make sure to keep a look out for that! Thanks for reading guys, and remember to review! Bye!**

 **Kia: Wait! Misty, has a month without CnC gone right to your head? What about our whole: Next Time on: SnW bit?**

 **Me: Oh right! Thanks for the reminder Kia.**

 **Kia: Anytime Misty, so next time?**

 **Me: Yep.**

 **Next time on: SnW**

 _Skipper looked proudly at his team, they were all back together, and that was all that mattered, and even better, they were all determined to take down Hans, he couldn't be prouder, they had all turned into amazing soldiers._

 _"Sir, what's our next move?" Kowalski asked, looking at him expectantly. He was still a little weak from the plane crash, but he was just as eager to fight as the other two were._

 _Skipper smirked. "To take down Hans before any of this gets out of hand." He said and the other three saluted happily, eager to take on the orders and take down the evil puffin who started something he was not yet ready to finish._

 **Me: Alright, thanks again for reading, bye CnCuddlers and remember to review!**

 **Kia: Cya Wednesday guys! If we could actually see you, but we can't, so I'll Figuratively cya Wednesday!**

 **Me: Bye guys! Remember to review, and follow/fav if you like the story and want to know when I'm gonna update next!**

 **Kia: Bye!**


	2. Penguins vs Puffins

**Me: Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're back, happy Wednesday everyone.**

 **Kia: Hmm, I don't know what to say but it feels wrong not saying anything...**

 **Me: I so get you, sometimes I just ramble on about random things cause I don't know what to tell the readers...**

 **Kia: Sometimes I purposely annoy you just to make the ANs more exciting.**

 **Me: That's okay, sometimes I-Wait a minute, when did the author's note become the place we confess to everything we ended did?**

 **Kia: I don't know, but we should probably let the CnCuddlers read the chapter now.**

 **Me: Alrightly then, go read!**

Skipper, Rico, and Private were waiting outside the hospital wing, apparently Kowalski was feeling better and could now leave the hospital wing, he just had to be careful, and so the team of elite Penguins decided to wait for him to walk out.

Soon enough, the door to the hospital wing opened and Kowalski walked out, he spotted the Penguins and waddled over, he looked a bit tired and slightly bruised, but it looked like he would be alright.

Private smiled up at Kowalski. "Hello K'walski, are you feeling alright?" He asked and tilted his head and Kowalski nodded.

"I'm feeling better, thanks Private." He said and Private nodded, Kowalski then looked at everyone. "Skipper, Rico, it's been awhile hasn't it?" He asked and gave a soft smile.

Skipper nodded. "That it has soldier, the last time we say you was two years ago before we left for Greenland, how's the wife?" Skipper asked and Kowalski smiled again.

They all began walking away from the hospital wing. "Kia's great, although I haven't seen her for a few days, she was recently sent on a transportation mission in Africa, she had to deliver a package to the P.I.O base there." He explained simply.

The others nodded and Private looked at him. "And how's the egg?" He asked, after all the last time he had seen the Quinns they still had a small egg.

Kowalski chuckled slightly. "She's not quite an egg anymore." He explained and Rico looked at him.

"Oo 'ad a g'rl?" He asked and Kowalski nodded.

"We named her Kolette, she just turned two a few weeks ago." Kowalski explained and they nodded in understanding.

It was quiet for a minute before Kowalski cleared his throat. "How has everything here been? I've been told penguins keep mysteriously vanishing, which is actually the reason I'm here, I'm supposed to find out why penguins keep disappearing." He explained.

Skipper nodded. "My guess is Hans is kidnapping penguin agents to weaken us before he strikes, giving the puffins the advantage." He said and smashed his flipper into his other one.

Kowalski nodded. "I've been told it was also the puffins that shot down my plane, why haven't you dealt with them yet?" He asked with a raised eye, if the puffins were really causing this much trouble, shouldn't they have done something by now?

Rico growled slightly, and Skipper grunted slightly. "We can't find their base, and I believe there might be a leak in the agency, somehow Hans has known of all of our plans and has been a step ahead of us this entire time. When I find the spy, you can bet they will pay for betraying us." Skipper said and Rico nodded furiously.

Kowalski thought about the new information going over everything in his head. "Then we find the spy, and take him down, we turn him into a triple agent, and use Hans's snitch against him." He said and Skipper looked at him, impressed.

"Good thinking Walski!" He said and grinned. "Well boys, it looks like we're back together! Up high!" He said and they all exchanged high fives before Skipper looked determinedly off into the distance. "It's time to stop Hans." He said.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, somewhere else in a secret puffin base in Greenland, a puffin sat in a chair in the dark, looking at some plans for the next attack on the penguins, he would soon have his revenge.

Right then there was a knock on the door and in came a short puffin that had a long scar running down his left eye. "Hans sir, our double agent ees bakk." He said and sniffed and Hans nodded looking up from the plans.

"Good Rupert, let her in." Hans said and a few seconds later, a small penguin girl walked in, she no longer looked nervous and in fact she looked rather tough. Hans looked up to see the penguin girl and smiled. "Ah, Rebecca, I vas wondering when you would return, vat news on ze Penguins do you have now?" Hans asked as Rebecca waddled towards him.

She had her flippers by her sides and she saluted before answering. "Agent Quinn survived." She started and Hans grumbled. "They're going to try and find out who the spy is, however I still believe I'm in the clear, they would never expect me to be the spy, at least not while I have the youngest one completely hypnotized by me." Rebecca said.

Hans nodded. "Good, we can't afford them finding out about you." He said and Rebecca nodded.

"They intend to attack soon, if you want to make a big impression, you have to attack first, strike them when their weak and won't expect it, I suggest attacking at dawn." She said and Hans nodded. "We have almost half their agents here in Greenland captured, if you attacked now, you would win." Rebecca stated boldly.

Hans nodded in approval. "You have done good Rebecca, you should get back now, or else they might wonder where you are." He said and Rebecca nodded and was about to leave when Hans stopped her. "And Rebecca." The penguin turned around. "Good job." Hans said and Rebecca nodded.

"I know sir." She said coldly, completely aware of how good at her job she was before she walked back out of the office, leaving Hans alone to return to his plans,

Soon he would attack, they would take down the P.I.O base in Greenland, and then finally Hans could get his revenge on Skipper to his fullest, soon Skipper would know what real pain is, and he would most certainly pay dearly.

Hans chuckled slightly and looked at the place on the map where the P.I.O base was and stuck a pin in it. "I've got you know Skipper my old foe." He said happily, maybe this one time, good wouldn't win, maybe this time, Hans could come out victorious, and he intended too.

 **CnC**

Kowalski was wandering around the base curiously, it was similar to the one in Antartica, but smaller, and wasn't quite as high tech as the one in Antartica. However this one was just the base for Greenland, the HQ in Antartica was the main headquarters, it's where everything went down.

He was still recovering from the plane crash, but he was doing fine. Apparently Skipper had to go brief some soldiers on something, and Rico had a few new weapons to test out, they really had their own way of doing things here, they all had their own jobs as well. Private was also off doing something, so that left Kowalski alone to explore the base.

Kowalski had been so happy to see them again, but something he had noticed is that over the past two years, they had changed.

Skipper was seeming more capable of leading large amounts of soldiers at once, he also seemed a bit more reasonable and sensible, no one was expendable, not even the weakest cadet.

Rico was far more responsible then he had been, he was also a bit better at getting along with others and had matured as well, although he was still Rico, and that would never actually change.

Private seemed a bit more mature and a bit less naive, he had been part of a few skirmishes, and since coming to Greenland, he really had to step up and become more of a leader than a private. Kowalski could easily tell that Private was a role model to the other agents here.

Of course Skipper, Rico, and Private weren't the only ones that had changed, so had Kowalski, he was a bit more capable of taking charge, and understanding consequences better, but being a parent really did change you, so it wasn't surprising that he had changed.

Right then, Kowalski spotted a small penguin girl, who was even shorter than Private waddle over to a vending machine, she looked around nervously to make sure no one was watching before she slid a coin in and pushed a few buttons before the vending machine moved out of the way to reveal a secret passage, in which she entered.

Kowalski raised an eye and made his way over to the vending machine, something was definitely up with that penguin, and Kowalski was determined to find out what.

He pulled out a coin and slid it in, now all he had to do was guess which combination the girl had used, and he noticed that 6D looked a little out of place and pressed that one, and slowly the vending machine moved out of the way to show a secret passage way, and Kowalski waddled in.

He continued to go through the tunnel, wondering where it led too, and why the female penguin he had seen had disappeared down the tunnel, it all seemed a little suspicious to Kowalski, and he was beginning to wonder if the girl was the spy, after all her behavior had been awfully suspicious.

So Kowalski continued to walk down the tunnel, however right as he was beginning to think he was getting somewhere, suddenly the entire walls shook and a loud booming could be heard from inside the base and Kowalski held onto the walls.

He didn't know what was going on, but he did know he had to get back and find out, so he began to make his way back over to the vending machine, he got lost in the tunnel once or twice, and the booming continued, however finally he had made it and pushed the vending machine out of the way.

As soon as he got back inside the base, he was shocked, for everyone was screaming, things were on fire, lights were flashing, and the emergency bell was ringing and Kowalski instantly knew what was going on.

The base was under attack.

 **CnC**

Skipper ran out of his office and saw everyone running, and a loud booming could be heard and right then a giant boulder smashed through the ceiling and landed right in front of him.

Skipper quickly realized what was going on and slid past the boulder and made his way down into the main area. "We're under attack!" He yelled, getting some of the agents attention. "We need to fight back, I want half of you outside with me, the other half collects all our data and weapons, anything strictly P.I.O and get it out of here, go, go, go!" He yelled and they all obeyed.

He slid outside to see that the puffins were attacking, and he glared. "So the war of Penguins vs Puffins starts now." He said darkly, and right then Rico, Kowalski, and Private made their way too him.

Skipper took notice of them and looked at them. "Alright boys, we've prepared for this our entire lives, even if we didn't know it, let's take down Hans." He said and the three Penguins nodded.

"Aye Skipper." They said and right then, a giant tank made its way forward, and they were able to see that it was Hans that was riding on top of the tank, and as soon as Hans had spotted Skipper he grinned and Skipper glared back, both knowing this was all just to get revenge.

And with that, the battle started, puffin against penguin, all determined to win the fight.

Rico had hacked up any useful weapons and passed them out to his teammates before suddenly a short puffin with a long scar had attacked him and the two began fighting, neither willing to let the other win.

Kowalski had taken a gun like weapon from Rico and was using it to attack, and as he looked around he noticed that the girl penguin he had seen earlier was no where to be found and Kowalski couldn't help but thing how convenient that seemed to be for her and his suspicious grew.

Private however, was fighting along side some of the cadets he had been training from earlier, knowing that it worked better when you fought in a team, however he kept an eye out for Rebecca, he wouldn't want her to get caught in the crossfire all by herself, and he wasn't about to let her get hurt.

 **CnC**

Skipper jumped up to where Hans was and wasn't surprised to see Hans was already ready to fight him with a fish in wing. Skipper glared at him angrily. "Hans!" He yelled and Hans looked at him.

"Hello Skipper, my old chum, vat do you think of my army? They're almost as good as the P.I.O hmm?" He asked and Skipper continued to glare.

"You sick twisted puffin, what are you going to gain by doing this?" Skipper asked and Hand shrugged.

The puffin looked at him. "Oh I don't know-revenge!" He yelled and tossed Skipper a fish. "Let's finish this za vay we started." He said and got his fish at the ready to attack, and then he did.

Soon Skipper and Hans were fighting each other on top of the tank, that was getting ready to smash into the base, they each maneuvered around each other as they fought, each trying to get the best of the other.

However the fight didn't last long and soon Skipper had made Hans loose his fish and pointed his at Hans in victory, he had once again beat Hans. "Give it up Hans, you can't win." Skipper said and Hans seemed to be agreeing.

He sighed. "I suppose you're right..." He trailed off and right then he grinned. "But if you were, I couldn't do this!" He said and kicked Skipper off the tank, making him fall to the ground with a thud.

Hans was soon able to spot the rest of the Penguins and with a quick order, the puffins and stuck all of them together, as they fought to free themselves. Hans looked down at the Penguins who they had tied up together and put in the canon.

"Have a good flight Skipper!" Hans yelled and right then the Penguins were shot out of the canon at top speed, and Hans turned to the base triumphantly. "I did it, I won!" He explained very excitedly.

 **CnC**

The Penguins landed on soft ground with a thud, and got up, aching slightly from the fall, sure it was soft ground, and it could have been worse, but it still hurt.

Skipper got up and glared in the direction of Hans. "Curse you Hans!" He yelled into the sky, making it echo for a minute.

The others were also getting up as well, and Private looked at Skipper in confusion. "Why did he attack us right then? It was like he knew we were planning on attacking him, and he wanted to do it first." Private said and Kowalski got up.

"Skipper, I believe I may have an explanation for this." Kowalski said and Skipper looked at him and gave a small nod, allowing Kowalski to talk. "I believe I have found the spy sir, and I know how she has been getting information to Hans." Kowalski said.

Skipper looked at him. "She?" He asked, actually not expecting the spy to be a girl.

Kowalski nodded. "While I was wandering around the base, I stumbled about a short female penguin who was just shorter than Private, sneaking out of the base through a vending machine, she seemed nervous and didn't want anyone to follow her, and then soon after she left, the attacks started. Hans wouldn't have attacked until his spy was out." He explained.

Skipper nodded in agreement. "What did this spy look like?" He asked, hoping to try and figure out who it was.

Kowalski thought back to the girl before explaining. "She was short and skinny, with shiny black feathers, that covered her face and her back, she also had a small scar on her back that was in the shape of a rose." He explained and shortly after he had explained the girl, Private realized who he was talking about.

"But that sounds like Rebecca..." Private said quietly.

Skipper nodded. "Agent Rose? I shoulda known, she was always so nervous around me, probably worried I would see right through her bad cover." He said.

Private glared and folded his arms. "Rebecca is not the spy! She couldn't be, she's too nice and caring, and pretty, and amazing." He said, rambling slightly.

Kowalski looked down at Private. "I know you want to believe she's on our side Private, I would want to believe Kia if I was in your position, but you can't deny the evidence against her." He said.

Private looked at him. "It's not like that! I refuse to believe Rebecca is the spy." He stated determinedly.

Rico stood between the two and said something quickly in gibberish and Kowalski nodded.

"It doesn't matter if Rebecca is the spy or not right now, we need to focus on getting back to the base and taking down Hans." Kowalski said and Private agreed, although he still refused to believe that Rebecca could possibly be the puffin's spy.

Skipper looked proudly at his team, they were all back together, and that was all that mattered, and even better, they were all determined to take down Hans, he couldn't be prouder, they had all turned into amazing soldiers.

"Sir, what's our next move?" Kowalski asked, looking at him expectantly. He was still a little weak from the plane crash, but he was just as eager to fight as the other two were.

Skipper smirked. "To take down Hans before any of this gets out of hand." He said and the other three saluted happily, eager to take on the orders and take down the evil puffin who started something he was not yet ready to finish.

 **CnC**

After that, the foursome began to make their way back to the base, and when they got there, they saw that Hans was still in charge of the base and the puffins were winning.

Skipper turned to Kowalski. "Kowalski, you short circuit the power in the building, and if you have time go for the tank as well, if Hans doesn't have power, he can't take over." He said and Kowalski nodded and waddled off to accomplish his task.

The captain then turned to Rico. "Rico, we need an advantage, follow that puffin over there back to their base and find our missing soldiers." He ordered and pointed over to a puffin who had a scar on his eye and was heading away from the battle, Rico growled and glared at the puffin and got up and began to follow him.

That left Private and Skipper. Private looked up at Skipper. "What about me? What should I do Skippah?" He asked and Skipper looked down at him.

"If you're so sure Agent Rose isn't the spy, find her and prove it." Skipper said and Private nodded.

"Aye Skippah!" He said and waddled off to go and prove Rebecca's innocence.

Skipper then turned towards where Hans was and glared. "That leaves me to deal with you." He said even though Hans clearly couldn't hear him, and he began to make his way over to the puffin, determined to beat him.

 **CnC**

Kowalski had a bit of trouble finding where the power for the base was, but once he did find it, he gave a cheeky smile and waddled over, and opened it up. "Pfft, they use the electronic trading system? That's child's play!" He said and easily shut off the power, and since he was able to do that so easily, he figured he had time to also short circuit the tank and slid over there.

However the tank was guarded by some puffins and they instantly glared as Kowalski approached and they attacked him with their clubs that they had chosen as their weapons.

Kowalski quickly dodged their attacks and countered them and soon the puffins were running, and Kowalski was able to turn his attention back to the tank and slid under it looking for the power source, and when he found it he smirked and opened it up.

This system was a bit more complicated than the previous one, but he was still able to stop it and soon the tank slowed before coming to a stop.

 **CnC**

Rico followed after Rupert, the scarred puffin quietly, not wanting to get caught, and the puffin never even suspected that he was being followed, soon Rupert stopped somewhere by a hidden cave and walked in and Rico followed not far behind.

The puffin said hello to a few other puffins before making his way over to where the screens were, and now all Rico had to do was find the others.

Once he was sure he was alone, he made his way over to a map of the base, which was conveniently out in the open and Rico was about to find out where the prisoners were being kept and once he figured that out, he began sliding in that direction.

Once he made it, he noticed there were a few guards and Rico chuckled as he hacked up a weapon, he had been meaning to fight someone recently.

He came out into the open and the guards glared at him. "Hey!" They yelled and then Rico attacked them.

They were soon knocked out and Rico pressed the release button on all the cages and the penguins flooded out, and one of them waddled over to Rico. "Thank you, we've been kept here for so long, how can we ever repay you?" The penguin asked.

Rico thought for a moment before a thought occurred to him and he looked at the penguin agents, knowing they would like this. "Help t'ke 'own 'uffins." He said and the penguin agents glanced at each other before they all slowly started grinning, that sounded like something they certainly could do, and they all began to nod their heads.

Rico smirked and gestured for them to follow him out, they would take out the base first, and then they headed out for the others.

 **CnC**

Skipper found Hans quickly and waddled over to him and he soon was standing in between Hans and the P.I.O base entrance and Hans looked at him. "Skipper! I thought I took care of you already!" Hans said in frustration, what would it take to get rid of this penguin.

Skipper glared at him. "It's gonna take a lot more than a canon to get rid of me Hans." He stated and folded his flippers.

Hans looked at him and gestured around. "Look around Skipper, I've already von!" He stated and Skipper pulled out a fish.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that just yet." He said and attacked the puffin, as he also pulled out a fish and they fish fought all over the entrance of the base, sometimes they would enter through the doors and other times they would stay much further outside them just the simple entrance of the base.

It was a good thing this was far out in the wild cold grounds of Greenland so no people were around anywhere, so the animals actual works would still remain hidden to the humans.

The two water fowl continued to fish fight as other penguins fought against other puffins.

However as the fight continued, it was only a matter of time before Skipper had once again beat Hans and pointed his fish at him, however for some reason, Hans still seemed to think they were going to win. "I still have more soldiers than you Skipper, you might have me beat, but not all of the puffins." He said proudly.

Right then, Skipper glanced over to where he could see Rico and the reinforcements. "I wouldn't be so sure Hans-look over there." He said and Hans turned to see where Rico had returned with all the other penguin agents and his eyes widened.

"No, I had planned this! Two years of my life! The mouse had said anything was possible if I vanted it enough!" Hans complained and Skipper raised an eye at the puffin.

"Mouse? What mouse?" Skipper asked.

Hans shrugged. "Two years ago I vas visited by a little mouse who vas looking for you, he told me to go after my dreams, and I listened." He said, actually feeling a little embarrassed that he took advice from a mouse.

Right then, Kowalski, Rico, and Private waddled over.

Kowalski glanced at Skipper. "With the penguin agents Rico found, we have been able to take back the base sir." He said proudly and Skipper nodded.

"Good work boys." He said and turned to Hans. "But there's one thing I still don't understand, how did you know about all of our plans? How were you always one step ahead of us?" Skipper asked suspiciously as he looked down at the puffin.

Hans shrugged. "I had an inside agent." He said and soon spotted his little spy. "Come here Agent Rose, we lost, we might as vell come clean." He said and Rebecca waddled over.

"If you say so." She said and Private gasped, and you could see clear hurt in his eyes.

"Rebecca? You were the spy?" He asked, his eyes wide. "Why?" He asked, not understanding why she would ever do such a thing.

Rebecca turned to look at Private, her eyes gleaming like they always did. "My reasons are personal, it was fun though, the game we played. You would get all flustered around me, and I would act like your friend, it really was fun wasn't it?" She asked mockingly and Private looked down.

Kowalski comforted him. "I'm sorry Private."

 **CnC**

The next day, after everything had calmed down, Skipper had contacted the general and informed him on everything, and now that the base was under control, and there was no longer the threat of a war on their heads, Skipper, Kowalski Rico, and Private could come back to Antartica now.

So they were just preparing the plane while looking around the base one last time.

Skipper looked around at the base, that was under construction thanks to Hans and the puffins. "I'm gonna miss this place." He said and Rico and Private nodded.

"Uh-huh." Rico said in agreement and Private sighed as he glanced over to where some penguin agents were taking Hans and Rebecca to their cells.

"I'll be glad to leave." Private said, still heartbroken over the fact that Rebecca had actually been the spy.

Kowalski waddled over to them. "At least you're coming to Antartica with me, Kia will be so excited to see you all again, and you can stay with us until you find a place of your own...of course we already have Hazel living with us." Kowalski said, wondering how the rehabilitated penguin enemy would get along with his team.

Skipper raised an eye at Kowalski. "Hazel huh? So you were able to rehabilitate her then?" He asked and Kowalski shrugged.

"Uh, more or less-she says she is still in rehabilitation." Kowalski replied and Skipper nodded in understanding.

Private tried to perk up a bit. "At least we'll be able to meet your little girl K'walski." He said happily and Rico nodded along enthusiastically, he couldn't wait to meet the newest Quinn.

Kowalski nodded. "She's the cutest little thing, you'll all love her." Kowalski said, sounding excited that his team could finally meet his child, it was a meeting he had always wanted to happen.

Right then a young penguin agent walked up to them. "Um sir, you're plane is ready for you, you can leave any time." The agent said and Skipper nodded before turning to his boys.

"Alright boys, let's get going." He said and they all started to waddle towards the plane, ready to leave Greenland behind and continue with their next stage in life, whatever that may be.

They got in the plane and all took their seats as it began to take off, and Skipper glanced over at Kowalski and shifted uncomfortably. "And uh, what about Kia's team, have you heard anything about them?" He asked.

Kowalski shook his head. "No actually, we haven't-however, I'm sure wherever Team Watermelon is, they're handling things just fine."

 **Me: So now the Penguins are back together and going back to Antartica! Woohoo!**

 **Kia: Hey did any of you catch the WIA reference Misty added in there?**

 **Me: I hope they did it was rather obvious.**

 **Kia: True, very true.**

 **Me: Alright guys, I hope you liked the chapter, and I'll update again on Friday, but if you can't wait that long, enjoy this short preview of the next chapter.**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _Kia breathed out in frustration. "I can't believe we're only five minutes into a reunion, and we're already trapped. Who has nets sprawled around the jungle floor anyways?" She asked and huffed slightly._

 _Nika chuckled and the other three turned to glare at her._

 _"Why Nika? Why?" Nutmeg asked, looking at the lemur tiredly._

 _Nika shrugged. "Vell, ve did have a lot of run ins vith L.A.L.A, I had to take zee necessary precautions to protect King Julien." She said simply and shrugged from her place in the net. "Do not vorry, someone from zee camp vill come around soon." She said and the others sighed in relief. "I hope." Nika added and the others glared at her again._

 **Me: Okay readers, until next time!**

 **Kia: Hey whatever happened to calling them CnCuddlers?**

 **Me: Oh we still call them that, I just said readers out of habit.**

 **Kia: Makes sense.**

 **Me: Anyways, I'm updating again Friday, so make sure to keep an eye out for that, and as always remember to review.**

 **Kia: Bye guys!**


	3. Saving Madagascar

**Me: It's Friday everybody, which means it's time for...**

 **Kia: SMILE 'N WAVE!**

 **Me: That's right y'all, it's time for the next chapter of SnW!**

 **Kia: What's with the fake accent?**

 **Me: It ain't fake.**

 **Kia: Don't lie.**

 **Me: Alright fine, I just felt like speaking in an accent today.**

 **Kia: Then why didn't you go with your Italian accent? You're actually okay with that one.**

 **Me: Look, I just picked a random accent and went with that one, okay?**

 **Kia: Okay, also there is a song in this chapter.**

 **Me: Enjoy the chapter CnCuddlers! I'm rather fond of this one.**

"Well, isn't this the reunion of a lifetime?" Ty asked as she looked at the three people she honestly assumed she wouldn't ever see again.

Instantly all hostility was dropped and they all put their weapons away.

Kia smiled. "I can believe it's really you guys! It's been a long time! It's so nice to see you all again!" She said happily and Nutmeg quickly agreed.

"Sorry for attacking you, I didn't recognize any of you." She said, looking a little ashamed of herself.

Nika nodded as she took off her hood to the cloak and dropped her spear on the ground. "I suppose two years ees a lot of time, how have you been?" She asked, talking to all of them.

Kia was first to answer as she smiled brightly. "I've been great! Kowalski and I have our own igloo that's close to the P.I.O base, and we do a lot of work from home, Kolette likes to help out in the lab, although I suppose we do have the issue of Hazel living with us, we kinda need to find her her own place, anyways, I'm doing great." She answered.

Ty looked at her and smirked. "We can tell, so I'm guessing Kolette is the egg, you had a girl? That's adorable." She said and Kia smiled. "I've been doing alright, although I think I finally know why the map led me to the boat." She said and the other three gave her weird looks. "Yeah, anyways moving on, how about you two, how have Nutmeg and Nika been?" Ty asked, eager to change the topic.

Nutmeg shrugged in response. "Well, I'm a major in a squirrel agency, and have a pretty good pay, most people would consider it a good life, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to fit in, I'm not meant to be a radish." She stated.

Nika honestly didn't know how to answer the question. "Things have not been easy on Madagascar, ve have gone through a lot, but ve manage." She explained simply.

It was quiet for a minute before Kia realized something. "Ty! You cut your fur!" She said in realization and the other three turned to see that Ty had indeed cut her fur, it was no longer long and silky, now it was short, and fuzzy.

Ty nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah, I actually got it cut not that long ago, it must have only been a day or two before I left Japan." She explained.

Nutmeg raised an eye at the cat. "Japan?" She asked and Ty nodded.

"Yep, Japan."

Soon the four girls had begun walking in the jungle, not entirely sure where they were going, but it was just nice to talk to each other.

However, right as they walked into a certain clearing, suddenly nets sprung up on them and soon they were all hanging from trees in nets.

Kia breathed out in frustration. "I can't believe we're only five minutes into a reunion, and we're already trapped. Who has nets sprawled around the jungle floor anyways?" She asked and huffed slightly.

Nika chuckled and the other three turned to glare at her.

"Why Nika? Why?" Nutmeg asked, looking at the lemur tiredly.

Nika shrugged. "Vell, ve did have a lot of run ins vith L.A.L.A, I had to take zee necessary precautions to protect King Julien." She said simply and shrugged from her place in the net. "Do not vorry, someone from zee camp vill come around soon." She said and the others sighed in relief. "I hope." Nika added and the others glared at her again.

However right then, Kia seemed to realize something and she reached into the backpack that was draped over her shoulders and pulled out a knife and she began cutting through the rope and she soon cut the rope and landed on the ground.

She landed with an oomph, and quickly got up. "I'm free!" She exclaimed happily as she jumped up into the air.

Nika breathed out. "Vats great Kia, now do you think you could release ve rest of us?" She asked and Kia nodded.

"Oh right, sorry." Kia said and picked the knife back up off the ground and waddled over to the giant rope, which was obviously the thing that connected all the smaller nets to each other and she began cutting it.

However it was very thick and it was three minutes later and she was still cutting through it.

Nutmeg rolled her eyes. "Oh for goodness sakes." She said and grabbed her gun like object off the belt she was wearing and aimed it at the giant knot before shooting and a blast of red shot out of it and melted it with the laser, and Kia ducked to get out of the way as the other nets dropped.

Once they were all back on the ground, Nutmeg flipped her weapon in the air before putting it back in the belt. "So, Nika-I assume you have a campsite here?" She asked, while the other three stared at her in amazement, they were most certainly not used to Nutmeg taking charge like that.

Nika snapped out of it. "Da, eet ees this vay." She said and started to lead them to the campsite, with the others still amazed by Nutmeg.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile at camp, Tina was just showing Micky a new defense tactic, due to the increasing amount of threats the lemurs had faced, Nika had made sure to spend a few hours of the day to teach them all some self defense, and now Tina was showing Micky.

"And then you kick." Tina explained as she finished showing the four year old what she meant and Micky nodded in understanding.

"Tina, when will Nika get back?" Micky asked, it was getting dark and Nika still had yet to return to the campsite.

The ringtail lemur shrugged and sat down beside the brown and cream child. "I don't know Micky, but she can take care of herself, she'll be fine." She said comfortingly to the little lemur who nodded in response and was quiet for a few minutes before he looked back up at her.

"Tina." He started.

She looked down at him and smiled. "Yes Micky?" Tina asked and put her paws in her lap.

"What we're my parents and Aunty Tip like?" Micky asked with wide eyes and Tina was taken back by the little lemur's question.

Finally she sighed and smiled at him. "Your parents were some of the most amazing lemurs I had ever known, Steve was so brave and caring, and Daisy was just the sweetest soul." She started and Micky nodded.

He looked down. "I remember Aunty Tip, she was brave when she saved me from the fossa." He said and Tina nodded.

"Tip was always brave, and she sacrificed so much, it's been a hard few months without her, but she fought the fossa so that you could live, don't ever forget how important a life is Micky." Tina said seriously and Micky nodded with wide honey colored eyes.

Right then Hugo bounced over and sat down next to them.

Hugo had been sent back to Madagascar to be in his natural habitat by the humans shortly before L.A.L.A had taken over and as soon as he had seen their group of lemurs he had joined them.

"So, what're we talking about?" He asked with a smile plastered on his face.

Tina looked at her friend and smiled. "I was just showing Micky the defense tactic Nika showed us yesterday." She explained, leaving out the part where they talked about her family.

Hugo nodded in understanding. "That's a tough move, it took me seven tries to get it right, how'd you do pal?" He asked as he turned to look at the child.

Micky smiled smugly. "It only took me four times!" He said and Hugo gasped.

"But that means you did better than me!" He said in mock shock and Micky giggled happily.

Right then, they heard talking and the three lemurs turned to see Nika enter the campsite, however following the black and white ruffed Russian lemur were three other animals: a penguin, a cat, and a squirrel and they were talking happily as they entered the campsite.

 **CnC**

Nika smiled at her friends as they entered the campsite, and right then Tina, Hugo, Micky, and Mort ran up to her, Mort had joined the group of lemurs as soon as they had spotted Nika.

Micky smiled as he saw Nika. "Nika! Nika! I learneded the kicking fight move! I is faster than Hu'o, now I can go fight Lalalala with you!" He said excited and Nika smiled and bent down so she was his height.

"But then who vould guard ve campsite? I need my best soldats here." She explained and Micky grinned hugely.

"Don't worry Nika! Me'll guard the camp!" He said proudly and ran off to go get his stick toy spear he had made and stood at attention towards the back of the campsite.

Nika stifled a chuckle and stood back up and turned to Tina. "Any reports on L.A.L.A?" She asked and Tina shook her head.

"Nothing yet, today has been unusually quiet, I think they might be planning something." Tina said quickly, and Nika nodded to her.

"Vight, go vith your instinct, of you think L.A.L.A is planning someving find proof." Nika ordered and Tina nodded before heading off in a different direction and then Nika turned to Hugo. "And you, how are ve on supplies?" She asked with a raised eye.

Hugo shrugged. "Well stocked, but we're gonna have to restock in a few days, especially now that you have guests." He said, and glanced over at Kia, Ty, and Nutmeg with a raised eye, wondering what on earth a penguin, cat, and squirrel were doing in Madagascar, and why Nika was so okay with them.

Nika nodded in understanding before turning to Mort. "I trust you have been keeping an eye on Julien for me?" She asked and he nodded.

"Oh yes, I'm always watching King Julien!" Mort exclaimed happily and Nika patted his head softly and turned to Kia, Ty, and Nutmeg. "Hugo and Mort vill fill you in on anything you need to know, I vill be right back, I just need to check in vith someone." She explained and her team nodded.

Nika walked over to Maurice who was watching from a distance. "Vhere ees he?" She asked and Maurice pointed up at the tree that they usually sat at.

"He's been waiting for you up there." Maurice explained and Nika nodded a thank you before she began to climb the tree, knowing she owed a certain lemur king an explanation.

 **CnC**

Nika soon finished climbing up the tree and spotted Julien, she smiled and walked over to him. "Julien." She said and the lemur turned around and grinned happily at her.

"Nika!" He said happily and ran over to kiss her but she stopped him and pushed him away.

"Julien, you forget people can _see_ us from up here." She said and Julien pouted as he lied down on the bark of the tree.

He let out a disgruntled sigh. "Ugh, this whole secrety relationship is so hard! Sometimes I just want to run up to you and be hugging you, but no I can't because only we and Maurice know about us." He said in frustration.

Nika sighed and sat down beside him. "Eet ees for safety reasons Julien, maybe vhen things calm down ve can go public, but for now, I think eet ees best eef ve don't tell them yet." She explained and the lemur once again pouted. "I have news." She added and Julien looked at her.

"Vhile I vas patrolling ve area, I ran into Kia, Ty, and Nutmeg. Kia's plane crashed as she left Africa and it crashed on ve Madagascar beaches, and then Ty's lifeboat floating all ve vay over here, and Nutmeg vas on a mission to get something from the fossa. Vut are ve odds of me getting reunited vith my team again?" She asked thinking that it was such a strange coincidence.

Julien looked over at her. "So your team is back?" He asked for clarification and Nika nodded. "You must be on de good terms with da Sky Spirits." He said and Nika agreed with him softly, even though she did not believe in Sky Spirits, but she would support him in his beliefs.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, over in the kingdom, a certain brown lemur was relishing in his victory, sure they still had the threat of Julien, but he hadn't shown his face for two years, it was rumored he was dead, which worked well in Clemson's favor.

He grinned, he was already ruling dictator of the land, with Julien's uncle taken care of, and Julien out of the way, there was no one who could fight against his rule, he had had a bit of trouble with a lemur named: Clover, in the beginning, but he had locked her up a long time ago, and so now with L.A.L.A as his army, the lemurs were forced to accept his rule, even if they didn't want too.

Now Clemson liked to think he had done a good job of taking care of the lemurs, he had set up defenses so that the fossa wouldn't get to them, and now they hardly had to worry about getting eaten by the hungry fossa, he might have taken away all their fun places that Julien had set up, and there had not been any parties the entire time he was king, but they had come to accept that over time.

Now, as soon as he got confirmation on King Julien's death, he could be crowned King, Clemson smiled at the thought, he still remembered how he had gotten L.A.L.A to follow him, which was truly the start of his grand mission to take over, and once he had gotten L.A.L.A on his side, they began recruiting more people, and soon enough, Clemson had an army to back up his claim...

 _(Flashback time, but I'm afraid it will not be in italics since there happens to be a song in the flashback, sorry, anyways to the flashback.)_

Clemson looked at all the lemurs in front of him, he was in a clearing with the slowly growing group called L.A.L.A, or: Lemur Alliance Liberation Army, all he needed to do was woo them enough so that they would follow him.

So he stepped forward until he was on top of a low hanging branch and the spotlight was on him. "Greetings lemurs!" He started however none of the lemurs were paying attention to him. "Lemurs of Madagascar, are you tired of King Julien's rule?" He asked, finally getting their attention as they all nodded.

"Well, I have a plan to get him out of the picture!" He exclaimed and they looked at him curiously. "But, for this plan to work, I'll need an army." He explained, however the lemurs just looked at him with blank expressions.

Clemson sighed, this was why he preferred to work alone.

 _(Song start)_

Clemson sighed as he looked at the sad excuse of lemurs before him. _"I never thought lemurs essential, they're crude; and unspeakable plain, but maybe they have a glimmer of potential, when allied to my vision and brain."_

 _"I know that your powers of retention, are as wet as a warthog's backside, but thick as you are...pay attention! My words are a matter of pride."_ He said, and grinned as he turned to face the lemurs.

 _"It's clear from your vacant expressions; the lights are not all on upstairs, but we're talking kings and successions! Even you can't be caught unawares!"_ He yelled, scaring one of the smaller lemurs, making them pay attention

And with that he started walking on top of the huge tree as lemurs stood just below him. _"So prepare for a chance of a lifetimes! Be prepared for sensational news, a shining new era, is tip-toeing nearer-"_ he started and was interrupted be Becca.

 _"And where do we feature?"_ She asked, and Clemson smirked.

 _"Just listen to teacher! I know it sounds sordid, but you'll be rewarded when at last I am given my dues, and injustice deliciously squared: be prepared!"_

Abner nodded excitedly. "Yeah be prepared! We'll be prepared. For what?" He asked in confusion.

Clemson grinned evilly. "For the death of the King!"

"What, is he sick?" He asked stupidly and Clemson just had to roll his eyes.

"No fool, we're going to kill him, and his uncle too." He said, aware that King Julien still had an uncle.

"Great idea, who needs a king? No king, no king, la, la, la, la!" The lemurs started chanting and Clemson glared down at them.

"Idiots, there will be a king!" He snapped.

Abner looked up in confusion. "Eh, but you just said-"

Clemson rolled his eyes and began explaining. "I will be king, stick with me and you'll never go hungry again!" He said and they all cheered.

 _"Yay! Alright, long live the king! Long live the king!"_

 _"It's great that we'll soon be connected, with a king who'll be all time adored."_

Clemson watched in amusement before jumping off the tree and landing on a tall rock. _"Of course; quid pro quo, you're expected to take certain duties on board. The future is littered with prizes, and though I'm the main addressee, the point that I must emphasize is: you won't get a sniff without me!"_ He yelled and scared them slightly before they got back in the mood.

 _"So prepare for the coup of the century! Be prepared for the murkiest scam!"_ Clemson sang as they sang in the background.

 _"Oooooo, la-la-la."_

 _"Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning, decades of denial, is simply while I'll: Be king undisputed, respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder I am!"_ He continued to sing as he surrounded himself in the pile of his new follows.

Clemson glanced over at the lemurs before singing: _"Yes my teeth and ambitions are bared: Be prepared!"_

And then they repeated him. _"Yes our teeth and ambitions are bared: Be prepared!"_

Clemson smirked. "Now get to work, we have a kingdom to take over." He snapped and they all scampered off as he broke out in pure evil maniacal laughter.

 _(End le song and also end le flashback)_

 **CnC**

Ty looked around the campsite, she had listened to everything Tina and Hugo had told her as they filled her in on everything that had happened to them over the past two years, and Ty was still trying to rap her head around it all.

Nika had somehow turned these bunch of lemurs into almost a soldier unit, and they all had their own stories to tell; Tina once had to fight off some of the L.A.L.A soldier's all by herself and had gotten a scar from it, she said that when she had fought them it was on a beach where a bunch of human things washed up on. She remembered lighting had struck and had lit the scene on fire, Tina talked about it so vividly that Ty almost forgot she hadn't been there.

Hugo also had a story or two to tell, as he had often fought either up high in trees or in the water by the beaches, he didn't go into as much detail as Tina did, and when he was finished telling his story, he didn't have the look of pain in his eyes that Tina did.

Ty still had a hard time looking at Micky, as he was the son of the man Ty once believed she had loved, but Ty was over that now, she had moved on but it was still hard to look at Micky when he looked so much like his father who had died protecting Julien from an assassination attempt.

The cat sighed as she looked down at the ground, so much had changed and she wasn't sure if she was ready for it.

 **CnC**

"This is Agent Quinn, my plane crash landed on Madagascar, I need reinforcements, HQ please respond."

Kia was once again trying to contact the P.I.O base, although it was amazing seeing her team again, she did not want to be stranded on Madagascar, she had responsibilities and a family back at Antartica, and she needed to get back.

She sighed in defeat as once again they did not answer, it would seem she was simply to far away for them to hear her. Kia sat down on the rock just outside the campsite in despair, if only there was a way to make the single stronger...

If lightbulbs could appear above heads, one would of as she realized she could make the signal stronger and she smirked and started pulling things out of the backpack she was still wearing, it was time to get to work.

It wasn't long before Kia had built a functioning long distance radio and was quickly connecting it to the P.I.O connection system, and as soon as it was working, she quickly spoke into it. "This is Agent Kia Quinn, is anyone there?" She asked.

After a moment or two, someone responded. "We read you Agent Quinn." Came the voice of a penguin agent and Kia sighed in relief as she continued.

"My plane crash landed on Madagascar, I'm going to need someone to come pick me up." She explained and after a moment of silence, the agent returned.

"Rodger that Quinn, we'll send someone right away, although it might take time to get there."

Kia nodded, still so relieved it worked. "That's fine, thank you." She said and turned the radio off as she bowed her head down in relief, she could go home.

 **CnC**

It was the next morning, and Nutmeg was looking around at the campsite, everyone was eating breakfast, she had been told everything that has been going on and couldn't believe they hadn't taken care of Clemson yet, she stood up and walked over to Nika, who was talking to Ty and Kia.

"Nika, can I talk to you?" Nutmeg asked as she walked over, tugging softly at her green gloves she now wore.

The black and white lemur nodded. "Of course, vut ees eet Nutmeg?" She asked as she bit into a mango and waited for the squirrel to continue.

Nutmeg looked at her. "Nika I think it's time you deal with Clemson." She stated.

Nika raised an eye at her. "You do not think I have been trying to do vat?" She asked angrily. "He has an army Nutmeg, I have some soldats een training, vere ees no vay I could beat him yet." She explained.

Nutmeg tilted her head. "Well maybe you're just looking at it the wrong way, he might have an army, but you now have a highly skilled elite team at your disposal, plus some extra soldiers if you need them. You're as ready as you're ever going to be, you should take him out before you no longer have the chance." Nutmeg said.

Nika looked at the squirrel thoughtfully and glanced over at Ty and Nutmeg, wondering what they thought, and after they both nodded, she turned back to the squirrel and let a small smile slip as she finished eating her mango and stood up so she was at her full height.

"You're vight Nutmeg, eet ees about time ve dealt vith Clemson and L.A.L.A vonce and for all, ve vwill attack, but only if I have my team vith me." Nika said cautiously and glanced at her team, who all shared a confident smile, they were Saving Madagascar.

 **CnC**

So, after filling the other lemurs in on what they were doing, it was up to them to choose if they were coming with them.

Tina instantly nodded. "I refuse to let Steve, Daisy, and Tip die without getting justice, I'm with you Nika, till the end." She said and Nika gave her a warm smile.

Surprisingly, the person who agreed next was King Julien as he looked at the team. "It is my kingdom, and my life that is being threatened, I want to be helping too." He said and Nika smiled at him, proud to see how willing he was.

Next was Hugo, as he stated that wherever Tina went, he would follow, and then Maurice also agreed, and before either Mort or Micky could agree, Nika turned to them.

"Mort, Micky, I have a very special task for you, I need you to go to ve beaches and watch for Kia's plane, can you do vat?" She asked as she looked at them.

They both nodded excitedly and Nika smiled happily, now that everyone had their jobs, it was time to take down Clemson.

So they snuck into the kingdom and Julien was completely shocked to see the state it was in, it was even worse than when his uncle had been King.

Nika pressed herself up against a wall and everyone copied her move as some L.A.L.A guards walked past, she turned to her group. "Kia vill come vith me, Ty-you and Nutmeg vill take down ve main guards, Tina, Julien, you vill keep ve civilians out of vis, and Maurice and Hugo, I vant you to find any prisoners and release them, they are obviously there because they rebelled against Clemson, understood?" She asked and everyone nodded.

"Good, vets move." She said and they all took off to accomplish their tasks.

Ty and Nutmeg snuck up behind some guards before knocking them out from behind, getting the attention of some other L.A.L.A solders who spotted them and glared, and soon enough the fight began.

Meanwhile, Tina and Julien had just shown themselves to the civilians, and needless to say, they were all amazed that Julien was alive and also took charge of things.

And then Maurice and Hugo had found the prisoners, and were surprised to find that there was only one, and her name was Clover, and as soon as they freed her she thanked them before they all began to head out, this ended now.

 **CnC**

Nika soon found Clemson, he was sitting on a throne he had had servants make him, she turned to Kia and nodded, she knew what to do, and so Kia jumped forward and rolled over to the guards he was with before pulling her electric rods from the backpack and hit the guards with them, tasering them.

Clemson quickly noticed that his guards were gone and turned to see Nika glaring at him. "Clemson." Nika said darkly and the brown lemur looked at her and glared, she was the one reason Julien wasn't dead yet.

"Nika." He said in anger, he had already had a few run ins with her, and he hated her, she was always messing up his plans.

Nika popped her knuckles. "I should have taken care of you a long time ago." She said and pounced at him, making the two tumble off towards the edge of the branch of the tall tree, and they lingered at the very edge.

Meanwhile, down below, Ty and Nutmeg were taking care of most of the L.A.L.A lemurs down below.

Ty rolled on the ground with one and tossed him to the side, but noticed during the fight she had lost her nunchucks, she turned to Nutmeg, who was fending off another lemur. "Hey Nutmeg, toss me a weapon!" She yelled and in two seconds flat, the squirrel had tossed her a gun.

The cat looked at it and picked it up, it was a simple hand gun, which of course wasn't strange, what was strange was that it was already loaded, Nutmeg didn't even like guns, why did she have not one, but two loaded guns with her?

Ty didn't have time to ponder anymore, as of right then she heard a call from on top of the tree, and looked up to see both Clemson and Nika hanging from the top of the tree, fighting each other while just trying to stay on the tree, for if either of them was to fall, they would surely die.

Nika growled in anger as Clemson tried to fight her, he seriously couldn't think that he would win, Nika was a trained assassin, she knew many different techniques to kill a man, and he thought he could beat her, all Clemson was, was a politician, but still with one push, everything could go south.

She kicked him hard in the shin, making him land on his knees in pain, and then Nika balanced herself out and grabbed her dagger and leaned down to hold it up to his neck. "You loose Clemson." She taunted and he glared. "And you are going to prison for a long time, be glad I did not choose to kill you." Nika said with clear hatred in her voice.

Clemson looked at her and didn't say anything, and then right when she didn't expect it, he kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her flying off the tree and falling down soon to hit the hard ground below the tree, and surely die, for no one could survive a fall of that magnitude.

However, before she could hit the ground, someone caught her, and Nika looked up to see that Julien had seen her fall and had grabbed a vine and swung to her rescue.

He tried to look heroic, but got distracted while looking in her chocolate brown eyes with a smile on his face and he and Nika hit right into a tree, lucky for them the landing was softer than they had expected.

Once they got up, Nika smiled at Julien. "Thank you for saving me from my fall." She said, her eyes gleaming.

Julien smiled back. "Well you have like, saved my life countess times, I was thinking I should pay you back." He said simply, and then Nika remember Clemson and turned to get back to go and pound Clemson, when she saw that Kia, Ty, and Nutmeg had already beat her too it, and Clemson was soon in handcuffs, he wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

Nika then glanced behind Julien and noticed all of his people, she turned to him. "Your people need you." She said and Julien turned around to look at his people.

"I am knowing I have been gone for a long time, and it was because of me that Clem-se-ion took over, but I am here for you now, we can fix all of Clem-se-ions mistakes and make Madagascar what it once was, it can be awesome again!" He called and all the lemurs cheered in happiness.

 **CnC**

Soon Kia's plane came, and she got ready to leave, However she was surprised to find that it wasn't only her that was coming on the plane.

Nika, Ty, Nutmeg, Julien, Maurice, Mort, Tina, Micky, and Hugo were all standing in front of her.

Kia smiled. "You all came to see me off?" She asked and Ty shook her head.

"We're coming with you Quinn, all of us, to Antartica with you." She explained and Kia raised an eye at them all.

King Julien nodded. "I have already left Clover in charge until I get back, I am wanting to see all the fishy smelly Penguins again." He explained and Nika looked at her.

"I have alveady lost my team tvice, I'm not about to loose them again." She explained and Kia smiled happily.

"Well, I guess we're all going to Antartica, this'll be fun." Kia said as they all started to walk in the plane, however Kia stopped Ty before she could enter. "Ty, I believe this-belongs to you." She said as she took off the watermelon green backpack and held it out to the cat.

Ty smirked. "I've missed this thing." She said and placed it around her shoulders. "This feels right." She said and Kia laughed lightly before all of Team Watermelon(and some extra lemurs) walked into the plane, leaving Madagascar behind, reunited once again and ready for their next adventure, whatever it may be.

 **Me: Well, now everyone's going to Antartica, that's exciting, I'm exited are you excited?**

 **Kia: I'm excited.**

 **Me: Good, we're both excited, also the song was "Be Prepared" from "Lion King" I do not own the song.**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _"Aww, look at us! All together once again! I haven't seen us all together in a long time, it feels good doesn't it?" Ty asked as she looked at the group that was once again back together._

 _Skipper nodded. "That it does Kitty, that it does." He said and there was a pause between the animals before Nutmeg raised her head and looked at everyone._

 _"So what now?" She asked the question that was on everyone's mind._

 **Me: Thanks for reading the chapter guys, I'll be updating again Monday, so make sure to keep an eye out for that.**

 **Kia: Bye CnCuddlers! Please review, and we'll update again real soon.**

 **Me: Bye guys, you are the best, did you know that? Well, now you do; You are the BEST!**

 **Kia: Once again, bye, I hope you have a good weekend! Also, happy Fanguin Friday!**


	4. The Journey Home

**Me: Buh da da da da da! Welcome back readers, did'cha like the little 'buh da da' bit I added in there? It's fun isn't it?**

 **Kia: We're not doing that in every chapter.**

 **Me: Fine.**

 **Kia: Anyways CnCuddlers, here is the next chapter for SnW.**

 **Me: So, as I-the author, have already stated before, these chapters(though still following the different chapter, different subject idea we had in CnC) are a bit more connected to each other.**

 **Kia: You can notice that it is indeed true, as you have read the last few chapters, and they are a bit more connected.**

 **Me: So, it'll be slightly more like a book than a show, while still keeping to the CnC idea bit we had.**

 **Kia: Okay, I think we've held you back enough, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Me: Go read.**

The Penguins plane was getting closer to Antartica by every second and they would be landing soon, and were currently going over the plan for when they got there.

"I don't know how much extra room we have, but you are all welcome to stay with us for a reasonable amount of time." Kowalski told them as they all sat in their seats. "But will you even want to stay in Antartica?" He then questioned, after all they weren't the type of penguins to stay in Antartica when there were other places to go.

Skipper honestly didn't know what they were going to do, for the past two years, his sole purpose was taking down Hans, but now that it was all over, he didn't know what they would do. "We'll see what General Frost has planned for us." He stated.

Private quickly agreed with Skipper. "I'd like to stay in Antartica for a little bit, but I don't know if I could stay full time." He said simply, he liked Antartica, he really did, but he wouldn't mind going somewhere else.

Right then a penguin agent came into the room. "I suggest you buckle up, we'll be landing soon, and it might be a bumpy landing." He stated with his flippers behind his back as he looked at the Penguins.

Kowalski raised an eye. "Is agent Williams flying again, agent Lance?" He asked and the penguin agent nodded and Kowalski instantly made sure his seat was secure, and the other three soon followed.

Agent Lance once again walked away and soon the plane began to land, and it was not a smooth landing whatsoever.

Once it was safely on Antartica ground, they cautiously got out of their seats.

Kowalski chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the mood. "They should really stop letting Williams fly." He said and the others quickly agreed with him.

They soon waddled out of the plane and felt their webbed feet touch the soft snow of Antartica.

Skipper looked around as soon as they were once again on the ground, Antartica was just like he had remembered it, well at least the P.I.O base was exactly the same, it was a huge military ground, with the actual building smack dab in the middle of it, and then acres of land beyond the building, along with some smaller buildings that were for other things, it was actually almost exactly in the middle of Antartica, and was completely hidden from the human eye.

He put his flippers on his hips and nodded as he looked at the scene before him while Kowalski, Rico, and Private stood behind him like they usually did. "Well boys, it looks like we're back where we started: Antartica." He said.

 **CnC**

Kia was beginning to wish she had taken a separate plane to get to Antartica, because not only did she have all of her team in this small plane that was only supposed to pick up her, but they also had the lemurs, and they were very loud.

"Hey Hugo, I bet I can beat you to the end of the plane and back!"

"You're on!"

Kia flipped out of the way of the two rambunctious lemurs as they darted past, however as they reached the other side of the plane, they ran into Nika, who looked anything but pleased with them.

She put her paws on her hips. "Tina, Hugo, vis ees not a gymnasium, vis ees a plane, so seet down and be good." She said firmly and the two lemurs nodded before walking over and sitting down next to Micky, who was far to busy coloring in a coloring book to run around and chase people.

Kia went and sat back down in her own seat, she had just went to grab a drink, and was glad to be seated back in her own seat now, she was sitting next to Ty, however Kia had the window seat, while Ty sat on the seat next to hers.

Ty glanced over at Kia, who was happy to look out her window and ignore the rest of the plane. "Hey Kia." Ty started and Kia turned to her. "Why do you think Nutmeg would have two loaded guns on her?" The cat asked, as it had been something she had wondered ever since they finished saving Madagascar.

Kia looked at her and shrugged. "Maybe being a major in R.A.D.I.S.H requests that she has a loaded weapon on her at all times, just in case something was to happen." She suggested, thinking logically on the matter.

Ty made a face. "Okay, but than why didn't General Swanson or Archer and his team ever have weapons? It's just Nutmeg, and although I must admit she looks very cool, it still just seems a little out of character, doesn't it?" She asked.

Kia sighed. "Ty, we don't know what happened to Nutmeg while she was with Radish, sometimes people change because they have too, and until Nutmeg feels ready to talk about it, I would leave it alone, I know you wouldn't want to share what happened to you in Asia right now, and I have my own questions for you, like why you shaved your fur, but I know it's not my place to ask that right now. Give her time, and Nutmeg will explain everything, and just enjoy The Journey Home please." Kia said hopefully and Ty decided to let it go.

The plane soon landed and it was time to get out.

Kia stood in front of the exit. "Okay, I'm warning everyone here that is not either a; a penguin, or b; a Russian, it is cold out there, I don't think you're quite ready to go out yet, you need something warm to wear-we have coats for you just over here." She started but right then Tina and Hugo ran outside.

"Wee!" Tina said as she crashed into the snow outside, but it wasn't long before the people inside the plane heard a scream. "Ahh! It is freezing out here!" And Kia faceflippered herself.

"That's why we wear coats if you're not a penguin." She said and everyone else grabbed a coat, and headed out in a timely fashion, and Kia sighed as she followed after them at a slower pace. "This is going to be fun." She said sarcastically.

 **CnC**

Kia knew she would have to check in with the General, but first she wanted to get everyone into her igloo, so they could warm up and figure out what to do with everyone, so she led them to her igloo and walked in.

"Come on in, sorry but I wasn't really expecting to have seven lemurs staying with me, so I don't have any fruit." Kia explained as they walked in and instantly a little ball of fluff ran over to Kia and hugged her.

"Mommy!" The penguin chick yelled and hugged her and Kia hugged her back.

"Hey Koko, look how big you've gotten in just a week!" Kia said and the little gray chick smiled happily.

Kolette then looked up at everyone else as she realized that her mother wasn't alone. "Mommy, who are the strangers?" She asked and pointed at them, she had a very advanced vocabulary for a two year old.

Kia realized she hadn't introduced the nine animals and got up and looked from them to her kid. "Kolette meet my old team: Team Watermelon, Nika, Ty, and Nutmeg." She introduced first and the three of them waved. "And the lemurs, King Julien, Maurice, Mort, Tina, and Micky." She introduced.

She then turned to the animals. "Everyone, meet my daughter: Kolette." Kia introduced and Koko smiled at them and waved before turning to her mother. "Daddy's in the kitchen with even more friends." She said.

Kia raised an eye at that, "More friends?" She asked and Kolette nodded. Kia glanced over at Team Watermelon before walking over to the kitchen that was in the igloo and looking in, and as soon as she did she felt a smile creep on her face. "Well, look who's here." She said and walked in, surprising the four penguins that were in there. "Hi guys." She said happily.

Skipper, Rico, and Private all grinned hugely as the spotted Kia and they all greeted her.

Kia was also smiling. "It's been awhile hasn't it? I thought you three were off in Greenland." Kia said after getting a hug from both Rico and Private.

Skipper nodded. "We were, but with the help of Kowalski here, we were able to stop Hans, and he invited us to stay with you for awhile, if you're okay with it that is." He said and Kia nodded.

"Oh that's fine, I mean we already have Hazel living with us, and I might have ran into some people as well, but hey the more the merrier, right?" She asked and Kowalski raised an eye at her.

"What do you mean you ran into people as well?" He asked as he waddled over to her.

Kia smiled up at him and kissed him hello before talking. "Well..." She started and the four Penguins knew she was about to dive into an explanation. "My plane crashed in Madagascar and I ran into Team Watermelon, and then we and the lemurs took down Clemson, and Nika nearly died, and Ty shaved her fur, and Nutmeg has two loaded guns on her, and then after fighting off Clemson and winning, they all wanted to come with me, so what I'm trying to say is that we one have seven lemurs, a cat, and a squirrel sitting in our family room." She said and breathed out.

The Penguins stood in amazement, and they had thought that they had been on quite the adventure, and then they all walked out to see that there was indeed, seven lemurs, a cat, and a squirrel were all sitting down waiting for them.

Kowalski gulped. "We are going to have to make people share rooms at this rate." He said in complete exasperation.

 **CnC**

A little bit later, the lemurs had gone to try and find anything in the kitchen, while the two teams headed outside to talk for a little bit.

Ty looked around at the five Penguins, lemur, and squirrel. "Soooo, are we all just gonna be quiet, or is someone going to say something?" She asked and folded her arms.

Nutmeg smiled, and decided she would start. "Well for starters it's great to see you all again! It's been a long time." She stated and Skipper nodded.

"Agreed." He said and Ty couldn't help but grin again as she looked at all of them.

The cat pulled them all into a big group hug before anyone knew what was going on, and all of a sudden they were all in a big hug as Ty smiled, happy to see her friends, for them their lives might have continued on, but for Ty, all she really did was miss them.

"Aww, look at us! All together once again! I haven't seen us all together in a long time, it feels good doesn't it?" Ty asked as she looked at the group that was once again back together.

Skipper nodded. "That it does Kitty, that it does." He said and there was a pause between the animals before Nutmeg raised her head and looked at everyone.

"So what now?" She asked the question that was on everyone's mind but nobody would dare actually ask, and they all glanced over at each other, sharing uncertain looks as they did so, now that they really were all together, The question was: what happened next?

 **CnC**

Kia found herself standing at attention in General Frost's office, now that everyone had gotten at least a little bit settled in, she had to go talk to her grandfather and see what he thought about everything.

She stared at the shorter penguin that was standing in front of her with a sapphire blue eye raised as he looked at her.

"I send you out on a simple enough mission, and you come back with seven lemurs, a cat, and a squirrel! I don't understand how you can just magically find your old team again, and now they're all staying with you in that small igloo?" He asked and Kia nodded.

"Yesh..." Kia said looking down slightly.

General Frost sighed and it was silent for the next minute or so, as the two were left to their own thoughts, that is until the general slowly raised his eye and looked at Kia. "Kia I know you're glad to have your New York gang back together, but they can't all stay in that igloo." He started.

Kia looked down, her pink hat sliding down her face. "I understand sir I'll s-" She was interrupted by the General as he looked at her with an amused look in his eyes.

"Now hold on, I'm not suggested you send them back to wherever they came from." He stated and Kia looked at him in surprise.

"You're not?" She asked curiously with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

General Frost shook his head. "No, actually I was thinking that it was about time I assigned you and Kowalski a new mission, Hazel's near done with rehabilitation, so what I'm wondering, is how would you and everyone currently living in your igloo like moving back to New York?" He asked and Kia smirked.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, back at the igloo, most everyone was all sitting on the couches that the Quinns had as Koko ran over to them with a rather large smile plastered on her face. "Would you like to see my drawing Ty?" Koko asked happily.

Kolette was an interesting penguin chick, she just barely came up to Private's stomach, and her feathers were extremely fluffy, even for a chick. She had soft gray feathers on her back, while she and shiny snowy white feathers on her chest and face, however what might seem strange about her, is that she already had longer feathers that stick up on her head like Kia did, however her's were unnaturally long and was long enough to be put into two small pigtails and still had enough for little feathery side bangs. She had brilliant electric and vivid blue eyes that looked unreal, and another strange thing about her look was the long white feather on her head that flowed with the other fluffy gray ones easily, she also wore her two pigtails back with two bright pink ribbons, she was definitely adorable, but looked almost unreal.

Ty blinked at the penguin chick before nodding. "Oh yeah sure." She said and Kolette smiled before running off to go and get her picture. The cat turned to everyone else. "How does she already have my name memorized? I told her literally three minutes ago, I'm pretty sure when I was two I didn't catch anything that quick." She said.

Skipper shrugged. "She is Kowalski and Kia's kid, it doesn't surprise me that she's already a genius, like we need three of those running around here." He said and right then a brown feathered penguin spooked him from behind.

"Don't you mean four?" Hazel asked as she popped out of hiding, momentarily surprising everyone else in the room.

Nutmeg reacted by pulling one of her guns out and pointing it at the penguin. "What are you doing here Flying Storm?" She asked and Nika and Ty also got into defensive positions.

Hazel laughed. "That's right, you guys don't know about the whole 'rehabilitation' thing, it's okay I'm a good guy now." She said simply and put her flippers up when she saw the gun. "Also you should really put that away, Koko has a photographic memory, it's probably not a good idea for her to come back in here and see you pointing a gun at her favorite aunt." She said and Nutmeg put the gun away.

Nika tilted her head. "Rehabilitation?" She asked for confirmation and Hazel nodded as she jumped onto the couch that the Penguins were sitting on.

"Yep, Kiki and Koala are frying the evil outa me, I haven't threatened to chop someone's foot off for at least two months! I'm one of you goody goody 'righteousness' and 'heroic sacrifices' guys now!" She said excitedly and threw her flippers in the air in excitement.

Nika glanced over at Ty and Nutmeg, who both didn't look like they trusted her, but the Penguins seemed calm, so Nika decided to relax slightly, so Hazel was here as well, that definitely put an interesting spin on things.

 **CnC**

After Kolette had entertained the adults long enough, she had found that Micky looked a little sad and ran over to him happily. "Hello Micky!" She said happily as she saw the brown, cream, and white lemur child.

Micky smiled back at her. "You Penwin kid." He said in realization and Koko nodded and laughed slightly, he talked funny.

"I'm Koko!" She said happily and Micky looked at her and tilted his head.

"Kookie?" He asked, getting her name wrong however Kolette didn't seem to mind and just nodded.

"Kookie." She said and smiled, this lemur boy was fun maybe he would like to color with her. "Do you like coloring?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Micky nodded. "Me like coloring!" He said excitedly and Koko grinned happily as she started leading him over to the table where a bunch of crayons and paper were.

She climbed up onto a chair with ease. "Color with me?" Koko asked and Micky nodded as he had a bit of a struggle climbing up onto the seat next to her and they both began coloring, Micky colored like any normal four year old would, while Koko stayed in the lines and colored everything it's proper colors and her drawings ending up looking rather realistic.

Kowalski waddled passed Kolette and smiled. "Hey Koko, what're you drawing?" He asked and Koko quickly showed him the drawing, which was of the Penguins, Team Watermelon, and all the lemurs, as well as herself.

"It us!" She said and then put the paper back down as she quickly added Hazel as well.

Kowalski nodded and then turned to Micky. "And what are you drawing Micky?" He asked and Micky shrugged as he showed the penguin his drawing.

"Alien people eating monster." He explained and Koko looked up in shock.

"You making a alien who eats people?" She asked and Micky nodded, and for a second Kowalski wondered if Kolette was going to think that was weird, but right then she grinned and grabbed a new paper. "Cool! I draw people for monster too eat!" She said and Kowalski chuckled and shook his head as he went to go join the grown ups, leaving the kids to color.

He entered the room to see they were talking about Kolette, and how she wasn't quite like other penguin chicks her age, he waddled over and joined in on the conversation. "Koko is rather advanced for a two year old." He said surprising the others since they hadn't known he was listening. "But not only is she the product of two geniuses, but she was also experimented on as an egg, Kia and I were just as surprised as you when we found out how advanced she was." He explained and cast a glance back to Kolette.

 **CnC**

Everyone was still waiting for Kia to get back, apparently the General had needed her at the base a little longer to go over everything, and so they all had to wait, wondering what the general had to say about them all staying there until she got back.

The day had actually gone by a bit normally, and now it was getting dark and they were still waiting for Kia to get back. Kowalski had already sent Micky and Koko to bed, since they needed sleep, and most of the animals had fallen asleep on the couches, none of them had slept in awhile, and everyone was tired.

The only ones still up were Skipper, Ty, Kowalski, Hazel, and Rico, and currently Hazel was challenging Rico to an arm wrestle, and surprisingly enough Hazel was holding up against him alright.

Kowalski was in the other room cleaning up, and Ty had gone outside, saying that it was too stuffy inside, and so Skipper had agreed to join her.

Ty shivered against the cold weather and tugged tighter on her coat, she really wasn't a fan of the cold, but she was surprised to find she didn't mind it when she was in Antartica, sure it was freezing, but it was almost beautiful, and you could see the stars amazing from where she was.

Skipper glanced over at the cat, who looked extremely cold, but too stubborn to admit it. "So Kitty, when did you get the haircut?" He asked with a raised eye and Ty glanced over at him.

"A few days before I left Japan, so I guess it was about a week ago." Ty explained simply.

Skipper nodded in understanding. "So, why did you leave Japan?" He asked and Ty looked away, without knowing it, the flat headed penguin had hit a nerve.

"Look Skippy, out of all the places I stayed over the past two years, I stayed in Japan the longest, but that doesn't mean I wanted to stay there forever, alright?" She asked, trying to end the conversation right then and there.

However Skipper didn't bite. "Hey it's fine, I was just wondering, you don't have to tell me why, but at least you didn't have to lie." He said and Ty glanced over at her.

You could see their breath due to the cold and the black and white cat looked at him and it was silent for a moment before Ty looked down. "I loved Japan, and I probably would have stayed there if I hadn't felt the sting of betrayal one to many times there, and about a week ago I had decided I had had enough, I cut my fur to get a clean cut and I left, and I am not continuing this conversation." Ty stated and Skipper decided not to push.

Right then they could see a black and white penguin make her way over to them and she stopped in front of them. "Hey guys, I'm back." Kia said happily.

Skipper looked at her. "What did the general say?" He asked with a raised eye.

Kia breathed out. "Let's go inside." She said, knowing it would be better to tell everyone the news at once instead of one at a time.

 **CnC**

So, the next morning, when everyone was actually up, Kia got ready to tell them all what the General had said.

The igloo was crowded now, and Kia was glad they wouldn't be staying here.

She looked around at all the animals and began talking. "So I spoke to General Frost yesterday and he said you can't all stay here." She said and everyone looked down. "However, he did suggest we all go back to New York, so there's that." She explained and everyone looked up.

"New York? Frost wants to bring us back to our old home?" Skipper asked and Kia nodded.

"Yeah, he explained that out of all the places we could go, something about New York always seemed to call us home." Kia said and there was a pause as she looked at everyone. "So, what do you think?" Kia asked.

Julien was the first to respond. "Hmm, I am liking the idea of getting my kingdom back." He said and all the lemurs agreed that they wanted to go back to New York.

Ty was the next to agree. "I've missed New York." She said simply, but they all knew what she meant.

Slowly everyone began agreeing, Nutmeg had said that she would gladly quit R.A.D.I.S.H as long as she could get Team Watermelon back, and soon they were all waiting on Nika.

Nika nodded. "I vould have to okay eet vith General Cloud, but I think New York sounds like a good idea." She said and it was decided, they were going back to New York.

 **CnC**

They still had a few good hours before they were leaving, and everything was already packed and ready to go, so now they just had a few hours to relax...well, sort of.

"Kowalski can you answer the door?" Kia asked as she retied Koko's ribbons in her feathers, they had gotten caught on something and had yanked her head, so now she was crying. "And Hazel, how's breakfast coming?" Kia asked over the screaming child, over to the brown feathered penguin who was making breakfast for everyone.

"Not poisoned!" Hazel said proudly.

Kia nodded. "Good girl Hazel." She said and Hazel beamed and right then Kowalski called over to Kia from the door.

"It's agent Clar!" He called over and Kia looked up, still tending to her crying child.

"Tell Al I'm busy, he will have to come back later!" Kia yelled back at him and Kowalski turned to deliver the message to Al, and right then the food caught on fire.

Hazel tilted her head at the now flaming food, "Huh, well that's one way too cook." She said and Kia looked up at her.

"Hazel! You set the food on fire!" Kia said in exasperation and Hazel shrugged simply.

Kowalski turned back to Kia. "He says it's important sweetie." He called to her and right then Koko cried harder and the flames expanded.

"Kiki the flames are spreading!" Hazel yelped as she nearly got burnt, and with everyone screaming at Kia at once, she felt ready to explode, but instead she sighed and initiated what she liked to call: Super mom.

Kia slid over to a fire extinguisher and quickly extinguished the fire, before turning to Koko and finishing tying her ribbons back, making her stop crying, and then once she was sure Koko was alright, she slid over to the door.

She nodded to Kowalski before turning to Al. "What is it Al?" She asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

While Kia talked to Al, everyone else just watched from the table, amazed that Kia had done all that, and so quickly as well.

Ty blinked. "Well, I guess Kia changed as well." She stated and the others nodded in agreement, as Tina whispered under her breath.

"She unlocked super mommy powers." And Micky giggled in amusement from where he sat on the gray lemur's lap.

 **CnC**

Soon it was time for them to take the plane back to New York, and after Team Watermelon talked with all their assigned generals, they agreed that it was time they put Team Watermelon back in the field, and same went for the Penguins.

Everything would return to normal soon enough.

They all boarding the plane and took their designated seats.

Koko looked over at her parents. "Why we moving?" She asked sweetly and Kowalski answered.

"Because, we couldn't have stayed in Antartica forever, it was only a temporary home." He said and Koko nodded in understanding.

Not to far away, Hazel was sitting in her seat next to Skipper and Ty. "Woohoo! We're going to New York! Does this mean I get my wings back?" She asked and Ty instantly shook her head.

"Yeah, no." She said and Hazel spit her tongue out at her.

"You're not in charge of me." Hazel said and sat up in her seat to turn to Kia, who was sitting behind them. "Yo Kiki, I get my wings back now, right?" She asked.

Kia looked at her and blinked. "We'll see Hazel," she said and Hazel grumbled and sat back down in her seat.

Julien was sitting next to Nika, and looked at her. "So uh, since I'm like no longer in any danger, can we be telling everyone about us?" He asked hopefully and Nika didn't look at him.

"Maybe, but just because Clemson ees not attempting to kill you, does not mean you are safe." She said and Julien folded his arms.

"It is sounding like you just are not wanting to tell everyone you are dating me." He said and Nika didn't answer him that time.

Meanwhile, Private and Nutmeg were sitting in their own seats, Nutmeg hadn't wanted to tell anyone yet, but she still had yet to quit R.A.D.I.S.H, it had turned out to be harder than she originally thought.

Private smiled happily. "It'll be nice to see all our friends again." He said and Nutmeg agreed, even though her thoughts were elsewhere, like how was she going to tell her team what she had been through over the past two years.

She sighed, "yeah, it'll be nice." She said absentminded and looked away from the short British penguin. Nutmeg looked out her plane window and sighed contently. "New York here we come."

 **Me: Well here's this chapter for you, I hope you liked it.**

 **Kia: Well, it certainly was more of a calm chapter.**

 **Me: Yep, and now they're all heading back to New York, what awaits for our two teams(and I guess the lemurs too) for their return?**

 **Kia: Find out next time on Smile 'N Wave.**

 **Me: Speaking of next times, are you ready for ours? Yes, good.**

 **Next time on SnW:**

 _Nutmeg couldn't believe that they were actually home, under the Bronx zoo, it was so strange to be back, and yet it felt so right, and with that she looked in her morrow where her reflection showed Radish her, as she was still wearing the attire she had been when she went to Madagascar, and she began to take off her radish outfit._

 _She was no longer a radish, no, now she was something much more, something better, and something she had always known she truly was; a Watermelon, and with that Nutmeg picked up her pink beret that she used to wear and placed it on her head and looked at her reflection, she looked just like her old self, other than her eyes._

 _Her eyes now held a look of pain they did not have before._

 **Me: so, thanks for reading guys! It really means a lot to me and Kia.**

 **Kia: remember to review, we will update again on Wednesday, so be sure to keep a look out for that.**

 **Me: Bye guys, and remember to review, also remember to follow/fav if you want updates, or just generally like the story, also I have a poll up on my profile, so go check that out, and PM me if you have any questions, or just wanna have a chat.**

 **Kia: Once again: Bye!**


	5. Where We Started

**Me: Hey CnCuddlers! Sorry for the late chapter, I have been off socializing all day, which is not something I like doing.**

 **Kia: We're just a pair of introverts.**

 **Me: Yuppity yup, anyways so guess what, I have the next chapter for you! Yay!**

 **Kia: Yeah, this weeks chapters are sorta boring, the real fun begins next week.**

 **Me: If you can call it fun.**

 **Kia: Too true.**

 **Me: Anyways, since I didn't get this chapter out when I was supposed too, why don't you all help yourself to some 'yummy' fish cookies?**

 **Kia: *holds out plate of fish cookie***

The plane lowered itself down into Central Park, they had done it, they were finally back home where they belong, and now everything could go back to normal, everything could go back to exactly how things had once been.

Everyone got out of the plane and waved goodbye to the pilot as he took off, and soon it was just the group left.

Ty breathed in the New York air. "Uh, back Where We Started. Huh it feels good." She said and smirked as everyone remained silent, just talking in all of New York once again.

Tina glanced over at everyone, looking around trying to see if anyone had any plans on moving, but it didn't seem like any of them did. "So uh, how are we gonna explain the sudden appearance of all of us?" She explained, wondering how this was going to work.

Kowalski beamed as he answered. "Simple, I took care of that the second I was aware we would be returning to our zoos, I had Kia hijack the computer system and with that we made it seem that the Central Park zoo was getting a few new transfers, and that their current penguins and lemurs were being transferred somewhere else, both habitats are currently empty, in fact our truck will be arriving at the zoo shortly." He explained.

Skipper nodded. "And what's in our crates currently?" He asked with a raised guy and Kowalski answered him flatly.

"Nothing." He explained and Hazel tilted her head.

"So, Koala-how are we gonna get in our crates if they are already in the truck? Are we gonna stop the truck? I've been hankering to blow something up..." Hazel said absentmindedly.

Kia waddled over to her friend. "No Hazel, we talked about this-we don't explode to get what we want." She said and Hazel rolled her eyes.

Ty nodded at them and folded her arms. "Uh-huh, but what about the Bronx zoo? I'd assume Team Watermelon is heading back there?" She asked, as if assuming that it was just how things would go.

However, Nika and Kia shared a nervous glance and it finally hit Ty as she sighed in realization.

"We're moving again, aren't we?" She asked and Kia nodded.

"There have been assumptions of us returning as a team for quite some time, and the generals wanted to be prepared this time, instead of just sticking us in whatever HQ is available, apparently they even have some missions set up for us, and surprisingly enough, most of our funds are coming from R.A.D.I.S.H who are eager to get in on the action of a joint organization team." Kia explained.

Ty leaned back on a tree and raised an eye at the penguin. "So what, stuff about us has been flouting round the agencies? I can see how Radish would be excited, with us being their only good team and all. Where's this new HQ now?" She asked.

Nutmeg answered, and it annoyed Ty that she was the only one who hadn't known about the move. "We won't be moving right away, at least not for another week, but it is set to be underneath part of the Central Park zoo, part underneath Central Park, and part underneath the alleyway beside the zoo, close to the Penguins, but not close enough to intrude." She explained.

Skipper nodded. "Team Watermelon isn't going to start getting in our way now are they?" He asked and Nika shook her head.

"No, ve vill not be handling missions in ve area, ve vill be taking missions all across ve globe, and eef ve do have mission here, eet ees only because eet involves someone directly invested vith us." She explained and Skipper gave a nod, that sounded reasonable.

Now, it was time to get situated into the zoo.

 **CnC**

So once the truck had stopped, the penguins and the lemurs all got in their crates from behind while the driver wasn't looking, and they soon got placed into the habitat once again, however while all that was going on, Nutmeg and Ty decided to hit the base under the Bronx zoo, apparently after they left, it would be used for a strictly penguin team only, and they would close off the lemur entrance.

Soon after Ty and Nutmeg got back to the base, Nika and Kia joined them, they had explained that since they were going to be Team Watermelon again, they needed to look it, and currently everyone was getting back in their old attire in their rooms.

Nutmeg couldn't believe that they were actually home, under the Bronx zoo, it was so strange to be back, and yet it felt so right, and with that she looked in her mirror where her reflection showed Radish her, as she was still wearing the attire she had been when she went to Madagascar, and she began to take off her radish outfit.

She was no longer a radish, no, now she was something much more, something better, and something she had always known she truly was; a Watermelon, and with that Nutmeg picked up her pink beret that she used to wear and placed it on her head and looked at her reflection, she looked just like her old self, other than her eyes.

Her eyes now held a look of pain they did not have before.

She sighed before walking over to her door and opening it up, leaving her small little squirrel room behind. It was time to see the rest of the team.

 **CnC**

The Penguins were still adjusting to living in the zoo once again, and they were all looking around the base, making sure everything was just as they remembered.

However, some new adjustments had to be made now that there were two other penguins, plus two of the seven penguins were a married couple, and it might be weird now.

Skipper, and Kowalski stood by and watched as Rico made a nice big bunk in the lab, now that Kowalski and Kia were married, it was sort of simultaneously agreed that they got the lab to also work as their room considering they were already in it so often.

Skipper nodded approvingly when Rico was done. "Nice work Rico, now let's go see what we can do about Hazel and Koko's sleeping situations." He said and Rico nodded as he swallowed his tool back up and followed Skipper out of the lab as Kowalski worked on a lock for the door.

Once they were back in the main room, they saw that Hazel, Private, and Koko were already there, and Koko was trying to climb up the bunks while Private cleaned up the HQ and Hazel was snooping through the bags.

Skipper raised an eye at Hazel. "Brown Feathers, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, surprisingly Hazel as she jumped away from the bags.

She looked at him and kept an icy look. "Looking for snacks, I thought you might have brought some." Hazel responded in such a calm way, that it was actually believable, either she was really good at lying, or she was telling the truth.

Skipper glanced over at the penguin standing next to him. "Rico give the dame something to eat." He ordered and Rico hacked up some fish and threw it over to Hazel, who looked at it in mild disgust.

Right then, King Julien jumped down the hatchet. "Hello neighbors!" He said, clearly already getting back to his usual self. "I am to be throwing a welcoming home party tonight, and I am inviting all you smelly fishy birds!" He said happily.

Private brightened and clapped. "Ooh, a party! Can we go Skippah? Please?" He asked and Skipper had to admit, they could use some time to relax and enjoy themselves.

"I suppose one party couldn't hurt, as long as it isn't too long." He said and folded his flippers and gave Julien a look.

The lemur king dismissed him with a wave of his paw. "Do not worry bossy penguin! It is to be starting as soon as the zoo is to be closing, and it will not be going all night." He explained and Skipper nodded, agreeing to go. Julien smiled. "See you there! Now I must go find Nika and tell her of my kingly awesome party!" He said excitedly and ran off.

Once it was quiet, Hazel raised her flipper. "Can I go?" She asked, thinking about all the trouble she could cause at a party and Skipper glanced at her slightly.

"Fine."

 **CnC**

Once the penguins got settled enough into the habitat, they decided to go visit Marlene, since it would appear she was still there, since Kia was still with Team Watermelon, the Penguins left Hazel with Koko, although they weren't sure who was in charge of who.

The zoo wasn't very busy today, so they figured it would be fine to go visit Marlene, and they flipped into the habitat and called for her.

"Marlene, you in here?" Skipper called and soon enough a familiar otter poked her head out.

The otter gasped in amazement when she realized who it was. "Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, Private! You're back!" Marlene yelled and ran over giving them all a hug and once she finished hugging them all, she looked at them. "Wow, you're actually back, I'm so happy to see you all again!" She said happily.

Skipper nodded. "It's good to see you to Marlene, we actually just got back from Gree-" Skipper was cut off as another otter followed Marlene out of her cave.

"Dear, who are your friends?" Asked a male otter as he walked over to them, he had a Spanish accent and was very fit.

Marlene smiled at the new otter. "Oh Antonio, these are the Penguins I've told you about, they were gone for two years on some super secret spy thing, but they're back now." She explained and Antonio smiled as he shook each of their flippers.

"It is nice to meet you, I am Antonio, Marlene's boyfriend, she has told me so much about you, I was hoping to meet you one day." He said and all of the Penguins had different reactions.

Private give a big smile and said hello to Antonio, while Kowalski greeted him with a simple nod, and Rico stood a little surprised, however Skipper felt his heart sting, he had always liked Marlene, but he shouldn't have expected she would wait for him after two years.

Skipper quickly regained himself though and looked at the otter. "Nice to meet you Antonio." He said stiffly and turned to Marlene. "Are going to Ringtail's party?" He asked stiffly and Marlene nodded eagerly.

"Oh of course, there are still some people I wanna see." Marlene said and right then Antonio looked at her.

"Marlene my darling, are we going to finish our guitar lesson?" He asked and she nodded.

"Oh right, well it was nice talking to you all again! I hope I'll see you at the party later!" Marlene called out to them before following Antonio back inside the cave.

The Penguins began to head back to their own habitat, but Skipper still had that sting in his chest, he should have assumed Marlene never liked him back, and that it was crazy to think she would have waited for him when it was likely he wouldn't have ever returned, however it still hurt, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Marlene was now off limits.

 **CnC**

Nutmeg walked out of her room, it was time to head to Julien's party, of course she wasn't sure why they were going, they didn't usually go to parties, and surprisingly enough it was Nika who had insisted they had gone.

As she walked out, she noticed the other three were already sitting lazily around the couches, and they all stood when they spotted the ginger squirrel enter.

Nutmeg smiled at them, Nika and Ty had their berets on as well, and Ty had her green backpack lounging on her shoulders, as Kia wore her usual pink bow instead of the hat and bow she had been wearing before. Other than the fact that Ty's fur was short, they looked exactly like how they had before, well almost.

Ty glanced over at Nutmeg and she raised an eye. "Nutmeg, why do you still have the two guns strapped to your side?" The cat asked as she realized Nutmeg was still wearing her radish belt that had the two loaded guns with it.

Nutmeg took a breath and was about to answer, however Ty continued talking.

"You're a melon again, you don't need those guns anymore." Ty said and made an attempt to grab one but Nutmeg dodged out of the way and glared at the cat.

"I don't have these guns because of radish Ty!" She said, in almost a snarl that it shocked her team.

Nika looked at her. "Then vhy do you have them Nutmeg?" The lemur asked warily, it wasn't like Nutmeg to keep any weapons on her, she hated violence and would usually try and work her way out of fighting, yet here she was refusing to remove the guns.

"I have them because of-" Nutmeg stopped herself before she could say more. "Because I just do, alright?" She asked, in a partly snappy way.

Nika raised an eye at her. "Eef you do not have them on for specific reason, then vhy do you not take them off?" She asked and by now both Ty and Nika seemed to want those guns gone.

Nutmeg stood defensively from where she was. "The guns stay." She said, her voice something the team had never heard it been before: cold, she had never needed to be assertive with them, she never had to defend someone of hers to them, and yet here she was.

Needless to say, her team was shocked, however the person to snap out of it first was Kia, as she nodded. "Okay, the guns stay-you don't have to tell us why you have to keep them, or what happened to you while we were separated, let's just go." Kia said and she quickly turned around and walked out of the HQ and Nutmeg followed close behind.

Nika and Ty stayed back, as they shared a look, whatever had happened to their sweet innocent private that made her feisty and defensive like that, and more importantly, why wouldn't she loose the two guns?

 **CnC**

The Central Park zoo had just closed, and guests were arriving at the party, yet Tina found herself watching from afar, since it was still fairly light Micky was still awake, he was allowed to stay until his bedtime, when he would have to go to sleep.

Tina sighed as she watched the party before she found her feet carrying her away, she just needed some time to think, it was actually a little confusing to think they they were once again safe, Tina didn't have to fight off L.A.L.A every other day, she was no longer in danger.

However living in constant fear of being attacked didn't just disappear over night, as Tina walked she found herself looking around suspiciously, and kept alert as she walked on, a constant paranoia of getting attacked sticking to the back of her head, it was as if she knew she would never truly be safe, and now she finally understood what real agents must feel like.

Unaware of where she was going, Tina bumped into something and took a step back to see what she had ran into and felt a pain in her chest when she realized she was at Steve's grave.

She closed her eyes and sat down beside the headstone. If Steve hadn't died, maybe everything would be different, maybe everything wouldn't be so difficult, maybe Tina would still be the lemur she once was.

Tina put her forehead on the etching of the headstone and breathed in sharply. "We did it Steve, we kept King Julien safe and alive, and we're back now-we're back at the zoo, things can go back to normal now..." She trailed off and winced. "But they can't, Steve people have died, I know you're with them now, but it's still hard down here, Daisy-she died of heartbreak not long after we got to Madagascar, she stopped eating, she stopped drinking, and her body was too frail to continue on. Tip died as well, she fought off a fossa protecting Micky, protecting your son, and I promise you I will watch him always, he will always have my protection, and I promise to try and be a parent to him." She said, letting herself talk freely to the headstone.

"But even if I know we're safe, I can't help but feel that we will never be safe, I can't go back to normal after everything, I-I can't forget everything I saw...and-and did, Steve the war is over, yet I feel as though I can never escape it, that no matter how much I want to believe I can be happy, that I never will be able too." She said and sighed.

It felt good to talk to someone who she knew would listen, she used to visit Tip and Daisy's graves everyday, but she couldn't do that anymore.

Right then there was a rustling behind her and Tina turned to see Hugo looking at her with a happy smile. "Hey Tina, the party's starting, don't you wanna come and get in on the fun?" He asked and Tina got up, tracing her paw around the top of the headstone before nodded her head.

She looked at him and began to follow him back. "Let's go."

 **CnC**

Team Watermelon was a little bit late to the party since they had a longer way to walk than everyone else, but they soon made it to the zoo, and walked over to the lemur habitat.

Kia looked around and spotted Kowalski and waddled over to him. "Hey, sorry I'm late-I had to deal with a little unforeseen complications back at Bronx." She explained as she talked to her husband.

Kowalski nodded in understanding. "Thats fine, Koko's been off playing with Micky, they're at the bouncy right now." He explained and Kia glanced passed him to see the two children were walking back over to the group, and soon Koko was beside her parents.

Kia ruffled the feathers on the top of Koko's head before looking at everyone else, she could spot Maurice tending to the bar, while Marlene and an otter she didn't recognize share a smoothie, and not far off, Mort was dancing to a song.

Rico was eating the snacks, and Hazel was playing dangerously with some fruit, throwing it at passing guests, and smirking after getting an exact hit.

She didn't see Skipper at all, but she did see that Tina and Hugo had returned from wherever it was they had been, and she also was able to spot King Julien walking over to Nika.

Julien made his way over to the Russian lemur and smiled. "You came to my party!" He said excitedly.

Nika nodded, knowing no one could hear the two right now. "Of course I did Julien, I support you." She stated simply.

Julien looked at her, and suddenly a mischievous grin appeared on his face and Nika suddenly had a bad feeling, and right then with everyone watching, Julien pulled Nika closer to him, and before she could do anything about it, he had pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Everyone's reactions were priceless.

Ty stood with an open mouth to the entire thing, not believing what her eyes were seeing, she was to shocked to even think as she stared at the scene before her.

Kowalski and Kia simultaneously covered Koko's eyes, and since Micky was standing next to them, they also covered his eyes from the scene.

Private aww'd before Rico covered his vision with his flipper, while he still stood in complete shock as well.

Nutmeg's eyes widened to the extreme and she was completely speechless on the entire thing, however Tina's eyes had brightened excitedly and she was squealing internally, since she had shipped them from the beginning.

Hugo honestly didn't see what the trouble was, and Maurice had a smile on his face, it was about time those two went public, and Mort didn't quite seem to know what to think of the entire situation.

Once the kiss was over, Nika didn't know whether to smile, glare, or slap him, so she just kind of stood there; frozen, it was a really good kiss too, so that might also be why she wasn't sure how to act, and it took her a little bit to come back down to reality.

Julien had a huge grin on his face as he held Nika close to him, and glanced at everyone around out of the corners of his eyes, he knew they all thought that he would never get Nika, and now he felt really good.

Finally Nika came back to reality and sent s small glare up at Julien. "I thought ve agreed to keep vis secret." She said.

Julien nodded. "Eh, I got tired of hiding it." He said.

Nika blinked slowly before becoming aware of everyone staring. "Julien, everyone ees staring at us." She said in a hushed whisper.

"Let them stare."

"Their stares make me uncomfortable."

"Fine, I will make them stop." Julien said as he let go of Nika and she just stood next to him, he then rapped his arm around her shoulder and looked at everyone. "What is everyone staring at? Can't I be greeting my girlfriend-" Nika winced slightly. "To my party?" Julien asked and looked at them. "Come on everyone! It is a party, get back to de dancing!" He ordered and slowly everyone began to return to whatever they had been doing before.

Nika moved out of Julien's embrace and glanced over at Team Watermelon, who was looking at her in complete shock. "I am going to go talk to my team." Nika said and Julien nodded.

"Whatever you want my queen, I am going to go be bragging about my amazingly beautiful girlfriend to the other zoo peoples." Julien said and Nika began to walk over to her team.

Once she got there she gave a sheepish smile. "I guess ve have a lot to talk about." Nika said, feeling extremely uncomfortable and Ty nodded.

"Yeah, you got that right, we do." She said, still shocked.

 **CnC**

Soon Team Watermelon were all seated at a table in the back, and Kia, Ty, and Nutmeg were just waiting for Nika start explaining as the lemur shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Two years ees lots of time, change happens." Nika started and the three animals looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "So uh, I am dating Julien." Nika said and fiddled with her fingers a little, still a little uncomfortable about everything.

Ty nodded. "Yeah we got that, I just wanna know how the heck that happened." She said simply and Nika smiled at looked down, trying to hide her smile.

"I began developing feelings for him soon after I vas assigned to guard him, and by ve time ve vere at Madagascar, I realized I could no longer fight eet, and ve ended up getting together, I know eet might seem really veird to you, but I can not even express how happy he makes me, I haven't felt vis vay about anyone before." Nika explained and Ty spoke.

"Well, good for you, I'm happy for you Nika, now both you and Kia get your happy endings and are in happy relationships, two members of Team Watermelon are with someone now, good for you." Ty said, trying to sound happy, but if you listened closely, you could hear some sort of pain in her voice.

It was quiet for a minute before Nutmeg cleared her throat. "Three actually." She said and all of the team turned to look at her.

Kia looked at the squirrel. "What did you say Nutmeg?" She asked and Nutmeg looked up at them.

"I'm-uh, I'm dating someone too." She said in a little voice.

Nika raised an eye at her. "Who?" She asked and Nutmeg looked back down.

"Archer."

Ty got up from the table. "I'm gonna go get a smoothie." She said and dismissed herself from the table and made her way over to the bar, where Maurice was cleaning out the blender and Rico was packing away the sweet and salty snacks.

The cat plopped herself down on a bench and rubbed her forehead. "What'ya got for me Maurice?" She asked without looking at the lemur.

"I just made a sour lemon smoothie, would that work?" Maurice asked and Ty grunted, he took that as a yes and slid a glass of the smoothie over to Ty, who graciously accepted it and began drinking.

While she was drinking her smoothie, Maurice was talking to Rico.

"So why didn't Skipper come? I thought he agreed to come to the party this time." Maurice asked as he put the blender back in its place and began cleaning the counters as he looked over at Rico.

However just then, they were also joined by Private, who answered for Rico. "Skippah said he was feeling a little under the weathah after we visited Marlene and her new boyfriend, he decided to stay at the penguin habitat." He replied simply.

Maurice nodded in understanding. "He seemed fine when we all got of the plane, I wonder why he started to feel sick." Maurice said, although he wasn't actually giving it much thought.

Private shrugged. "I'm not sure, he just decided he didn't feel well after we left Marlene's." He replied and Ty perked her ears towards the direction of the conversation as she drank her smoothie.

Rico said something in gibberish and Private nodded. "Marlene does seem happy, doesn't she?" He asked and Rico nodded. "I'm happy for her, she deserves someone nice." Private said and right then Ty finished her drink.

She looked at the empty glass before pushing it back towards Maurice. "Hey, thanks for the smoothie, I think it helped." Ty said and Maurice nodded, and Ty began to head back to her table.

However, she was about halfway there when she couldn't help but remember what Maurice and Private had said, and she found herself looking over at the penguin habitat and saw the silhouette of a certain flat headed penguin that was sitting on top of the iceberg that had been added in two years ago.

She glanced back over to her team, who had already dispersed into the crowd, Nika was actually dancing beside Julien, she seemed happy she could openly show her feelings for him, and Kia was now talking to Marlene and that other otter as Nutmeg seemed to be paying Tina.

Ty sighed and then forgot about the table and left the lemur habitat, making her way over to the penguin habitat where Skipper stood.

 **CnC**

She got to the habitat and climbed up. "Hey, you seem a little lonely, mind if I join you?" Ty asked and Skipper didn't respond so Ty went and sat next to him, with her feet dangling off the edge of the iceberg.

She glanced next to her where Skipper was and gave a comforting smile. "So uh, why aren't you at the party?" She asked and Skipper shrugged.

"I didn't feel up to a party right now." Skipper said simply and Ty nodded in understanding.

"Is it because of Marlene?"

Skipper turned to look at her and raised an eye at the cat. "What are you getting at Kitty?" He asked although they both knew exactly what Ty was getting at.

Ty shrugged casually. "Nothing, it's just from what I heard, you seemed pretty upset about Marlene dating that other otter guy, the Spanish guitar player who is actually really nice to look at." Ty said with a smirk and Skipper didn't answer.

The sun was beginning to set by now, and they had a pretty good place to watch it.

Ty continued talking. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Skipper, feelings happen, everyone knows that, even the toughest of us all can fall victim to it." She said simply.

Skipper didn't know why, but he felt like he could talk to her. He sighed. "I waited too long, and now I've missed my chance." He said and Ty felt bad for him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same pit you are." Ty said and Skipper raised an eye at her.

"What pit is that?" He asked.

Ty shrugged. "The one where all the people who are destined to live forever alone go." She explained and looked up at the slowly darkening sky.

Skipper shook his head. "Nah, you'll find someone Kitty, you're one of those people that everyone likes." He said and Ty laughed.

"Ha, you know I used to think maybe I would find someone, but I know better now-sometimes you are just gonna end up alone, and you have to accept that. I learned that a few weeks ago in Japan." Ty said with slight bitterness in her voice.

Skipper looked at her. "Are you still not going to tell me what happened in Japan?" He asked, wondering what had happened to the cat in Japan, she didn't seem to want to talk about it much.

Ty glanced at him. "What happened in Japan was that I made a mistake, I fell in love, and I payed the price once again, and it made me realize that I don't wanna deal with that heartbreak anymore, I don't need it. I've come to accept that I'm gonna end up an old cat lady." She said and smirked at her own pun.

It was silent for a little bit longer, the two of them just stayed in silence, Ty was more relaxed talking about Japan this time, but she didn't seem to want to go far into it.

Finally Ty got up and extended her paw to Skipper. "So what'ya say Skippy? You wanna join me in the pit and come to the party, or are you gonna sit out here moping about?" She asked and Skipper took her paw and she helped him up.

"I'll join that pit." He said and Ty grinned.

"Good, now come on-I want you to see something that you won't be able to believe, I couldn't believe myself when I first saw it." Ty said and Skipper looked at her in interest as Ty let him to the habitat to show him Julien and Nika and she was right, Skipper didn't believe it.

The party continued on, and although they were all back where they started, and everyone was trying their hardest to make things like they once had been, one thing was clear: Nothing would ever be the same again.

 **Me: So here we have a bit more of a calm chapter, I hope that's alright, and that you're all enjoying this fluffiness, because it is not going to last.**

 **Kia: No it isn't, so enjoy it for now, also Misty apologizes to all you Skilene shippers out there, I'm afraid it isn't gonna happen in this story.**

 **Me: Yeah, sorry, but I have plans-so you know, there's that.**

 **Kia: So, now I guess it's time to have a next time?**

 **Me: you betcha.**

 **Next time on SnW:**

 _Kia knew she would have to come clean now, even if she didn't really want too. She had kept it secret for so long, it was the one black spot in her file, and no one was supposed to ever know what had happened._

 _She didn't ever talk about it, she never wanted too, but now she had too, there was no escaping it anymore, it was time she came clean and told everyone exactly what happened with the Puppeteer, and it is not a story she liked telling._

 _Kia sighed and watched as everyone sat down. "I should warn you that this is not a happy story, it is dark and depressing, so before I begin, does anyone want to leave?" She asked and scanned over the animals and no one moved._

 _She sighed. "Fine, lets begin..."_

 **Me: Thanks for reading CnCuddlers! I hope you get excited about this story like I do, because I know I'm always ecstatic to update this story.**

 **Kia: She has big plans for it.**

 **Me: Yep, anyways, please review, I am an untamed force that is only controlled by your reviews, so please, review. I'll be updating again on Friday.**

 **Kia: Until then, bye guys and remember to review.**

 **Me: BYE! And make sure to tell me what you thought of the chapter, did you like our last peaceful chapter for a little bit?**

 **Kia: Spoiler alert!**

 **Me: I'm the author, I get to spoil.**

 **Kia: That's not fair...**

 **Me: Well too bad for you, anyways by readers! Cya again on Friday!**

 **Kia: We can't actually see them Misty.**

 **Me: Whatever Kia, I do what I want.**

 **Kia: Still can't see them.**

 **Me: Ugh, bye guys!**


	6. The Puppeteer

**Me: Kia! You get back here and pick up this book! We are not lazy here! Now come pick up after yourself!**

 **Kia: I left for five seconds, I was coming back.**

 **Me: Oh, well...what book are you reading?**

 **Kia: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.**

 **Me: Oh, it's a good book, I've read it before.**

 **Kia: Also, are you aware the chapter started?**

 **Me: It did? *turns to window* Oh hi CnCuddlers! I didn't even notice you were there! Anyways, here is the next chapter for you, or at least I'll have the next chapter for you as soon as I can remember where I put it...**

 **Kia: No worries Misty, I got your back. *shows chapter* metaphorically speaking of course, I don't actually have your back...**

 **Me: Great! Let's start the chapter! Go enjoy the chapter readers, go read!**

 _Kia opened her eyes to find herself in a rookery back at Antartica, she was confused at first, why was she in a rookery? It didn't make sense, however then everything came into light as the sun rose and the entire rookery lit up._

 _This wasn't just any rookery, it was once called Penguin-Haven, it was supposed to be the most secure rookery in all of Antartica, but at that moment, it was far from peaceful, as penguins screamed as they all tried to evacuate the city._

 _The entire place was going to explode, and they had barely any time left._

 _Knowing that it was about to explode, Kia quickly began helping everyone get out, and she soon spotted a little penguin chick screaming for help and she ran over to see that a little penguin chick was trapped under an igloo that was collapsing in on itself._

 _Kia looked at the chick. "It's okay, we're going to get you out of here." She said and helped the penguin chick free herself from the igloo, however as soon as she finished getting the chick out, she quickly realized who it was. "Koko, what are you doing here?" Kia asked in shock._

 _Koko's eyes were teary and she hugged onto her mother. "Oh Mommy, why did you do it?" She asked, shocking Kia._

 _"What?" She asked and Koko looked up at her._

 _"Why did you and aunty Hazel do it?" She asked and Kia didn't know how to answer that._

 _Kia looked at her daughter and scooped her up. "Come on Koko, we have to get out of here, it isn't safe anymore." She breathed and started making her way over to the exits, however right before her, and the other penguins could reach the exits, suddenly giant puppets cornered them, not allowing them to escape._

 _Kia looked around in confusion. "Puppets?" She asked and then her eyes widened in realization. "It couldn't be, no-I took care of him, he shouldn't be here anymore." She breathed and right then a dark chuckle echoed throughout the entire rookery, and the screaming all stopped as they looked around for the voice._

 _And suddenly a dark figure emerged, and continued laughing but his face was covered, however Kia already knew it was._

 _"The Puppeteer." She breathed and the laughing continued._

 _"None of you are going anywhere." Echoed the voice of the Puppeteer, and Kia felt dread rush up her._

 _Koko looked up at her mother with watery eyes. "Mommy, we'll be okay, won't we?" She asked and Kia gave a comforting smile and brushed her flipper over her head._

 _"Ko-" She began and then suddenly Koko disappeared and her eyes widened. "Koko?" She asked in worry and looked around as suddenly all the penguins disappeared._

 _Kia looked around in confusion. "What's going on?" She asked and right then she heard a noise from behind her and turned to see the Penguins, Team Watermelon, and others she cared about walking towards her, however something was different this time, because this time they were all puppets._

 _She began to breath faster as she heard the voice again. "I warned you Plunder, I would get my revenge." The voice boomed and Kia shook her head._

 _"No, no, no, no." She said quickly and the dark evil chuckling continued and right then the rookery exploded._

 **CnC**

Kia woke with a start and quickly realized she was safe in the lab, she glanced over to Kowalski who was still sleeping peacefully next to her, and she sighed in relief, it had all been a dream, just a dream.

She closed her eyes and tried to forget about the dream, but she continued to think about it, as it ate away at her and she sighed in defeat, she wasn't getting any sleep that night.

The next morning, all the penguins were gathering in the HQ, going over their plan for the day.

Rico was brushing his doll's hair, while everyone else sat at the table, and Koko watched morning cartoons on the TV, and if you listened carefully you could hear Koko questioning the reality of the cartoons she watched.

"Why is there rainbow? There was no rain!" She complained, not understanding the little kid show in the slightest.

Kia was sitting at the table, however she kept dozing off, she hadn't slept a wink last night, other than that horrible dream she had and her behavior didn't go unnoticed by the others.

Skipper raised an eye. "You feeling okay soldier? You look like you're ready to fall asleep on that table." He commented as he stirred his coffee with a fish in it.

Kia nodded. "I'm fine, I'm just a little tired." She said in a bit of a snappy tone, as she was still trying to wake up.

Skipper slid her a different cup of coffee. "Here, this'll help." He explained and Kia shook her head.

"I don't drink coffee, it's too addicting, not good for a healthy diet." She explained and Hazel snagged the coffee from the table.

"Here you go Kiki, I'll drink it for you." Hazel said and smirked as she started drinking the coffee. "You know it doesn't surprise me that you're tired, I heard you yelling out in your sleep last night." She said.

Kowalski, who was sitting next to Kia looked confused. "I didn't hear anything, and I sleep right next to her." He said and Hazel looked at him with a raised eye.

"Yeah, you also sleep like a log, I was passing by the lab after getting a late night cheesy dibbles snack, and I heard Kiki here crying out." Hazel explained and took a sip of her hot beverage.

Private tilted his head. "What was she saying?" He asked, just being his usual curious self and Hazel looked at Kia.

"You were crying out words like: No, no, no, and you kept saying things like 'the Puppeteer.' Or 'we can't stay here, it's not safe.' What was that all about?" Hazel asked and everyone turned to look at Kia.

Kia shrugged. "I had a bad dream, that's all." She said, as she attempted to change the subject, really not wanting to talk about her dream, or any memories she had with the dream.

Hazel raised an eye at her. "Just a bad dream Kiki? Cause it sounded a lot like to me that one time with the rookery and the Puppeteer." She said and finished drinking the coffee and winced slightly as she turned to Skipper. "That last part was bitter." She said however no one was really listening to her anymore.

Private tilted his head. "You know, I don't think you evah told us that story." He said, mulling it over in his head, and it was true, Kia had not told them that story.

Kia shrugged. "I-it must have never really surfaced before." She said and glanced over at Kowalski, he knew the story since Kia had told him before, but the others were still oblivious to it.

Kowalski cleared his throat. "I'm sure Kia doesn't want to talk about her dream, or the puppeteer, so why don't we go up top for some training?" He suggest, purposely changing the subject.

Skipper shook his head. "Now wait just a minute there 'Walski, I'm a bit curious myself, say Kia-what did happen to the Puppeteer? From what I know, he was at large for a long time, how were you able to bring him in?" He asked.

Kia was now aware of all the attention on her and she gulped slightly and looked at them all as they began to gather around her. "You really want to know?" She asked, and everyone nodded as they all began to sit down waiting for her to tell the tale.

Kia knew she would have to come clean now, even if she didn't really want too. She had kept it secret for so long, it was the one black spot in her file, and no one was supposed to ever know what had happened.

She didn't ever talk about it, she never wanted too, but now she had too, there was no escaping it anymore, it was time she came clean and told everyone exactly what happened with the Puppeteer, and it is not a story she liked telling.

Kia sighed and watched as everyone sat down. "I should warn you that this is not a happy story, it is dark and depressing, so before I begin, does anyone want to leave?" She asked and scanned over the animals and no one moved.

She sighed. "Fine, lets begin..." Kia said and dove into her tale, knowing it would be hard to explain everything after this.

 **CnC**

 _(Flashback start)_

 _Eight years ago in Antartica_

A nineteen year old Kia Plunder was sneaking her way out of the rookery known as the Penguin-Haven, she knew she has to be sneaky, or else she would get in big trouble, not just with the natives in the rookery, but also with the P.I.O, she was taking a big risk in doing this, and she just hoped it would all be worth it.

Kia carefully makes it out of the rookery and sighs in relief, she had done it, now she just had to talk to a certain flying penguin she had recently run into before.

The nineteen year old gets on her belly and slides off, however her ribbon got snagged on an ice shard and she winced in pain as it pulled on her head. Kia got up and quickly untied the ribbon from her head, and was about to work on getting it out, when she heard the voices of some P.I.O agents and decides to leave it.

Kia slid off in a hurry, the feathers on her head sticking up even more as she finally reaches what looks to be a snow cave, she stood up and shook off any snow on her feathers and briskly walked in.

"Hazel? I'm done, I planted the object in the rookery, are you gonna tell me what happened now?" Kia asked as she walked in, and a brown feathered nineteen year old walked out and looked at her.

"Kiki, you're back-good, so you planted the bomb-I mean the natural energy source?" She asked as she walked over to the black feathered penguin with a devious smile planted on her face.

Kia nodded. "Yeah, and I just want to say Hay, that I am so proud of you, this is definitely a step in the right direction, just because a rookery kicked you out because of your feather color, doesn't mean you have to hate them, and planting a natural energy source in the middle of the town is the first step." Kia said, smiling brightly at her friend, who had recently been up to nothing but trouble, she was even a penguin enemy now, but that didn't stop Kia from thinking of her as a friend.

Hazel nodded and rubbed her flippers together. "Yes, that rookery is certainly getting what's coming to them." She said deviously, however her naive friend didn't seem to notice.

 **CnC**

A few days later, both Kia and Hazel were excited for the object to go off, Kia was especially happy considering the last time she had had a snowcone, she sort of wrecked part of the town, and now she had a chance to help the rookery.

Kia yawned slightly. "Hay, did you bring any snacks? I was so excited today that I forgot to eat." She said and Hazel pointed a brown flipper over to a collection of bags in the back and Kia smiled as she waddled over to them.

However there was two bags, and Kia wasn't sure which one Hazel had pointed at, she was about to ask but Hazel was far too busy looking out the binoculars to care and Kia decided to just find them herself, and so she opened the first bag.

And as soon as she opened the bag, she was beginning to regret it, because she did not find fish, she had found a detonator, along with something that was counting down, and a very well drawn picture of a bomb, and suddenly it clicked.

Kia turned to look at Hazel with big eyes, "Why Hazel? Why did you trick me?" She asked, her voice breaking and Hazel turned to look at her and it was then she realized that Kia had figured it out.

"Because that rookery needs to pay, and so do you-you shouldn't have ever tried to bring me back, it will never happen." She said with a glare and Kia looked at her with wide eyes. "And there is nothing you can do about that rookery, it will explode." She said with a glint in her eyes.

Kia looked at her in shock. "Hazel you don't have to do this! You have a chance to do the right thing." She said, pleading with someone she used to call a friend.

Hazel glared at her. "You don't understand Kia, and you never will, sometimes we have to choose our own path, and I've chosen mine, I can no longer serve under that agency! You won't ever understand."

Kia shook her head at the brown feathered penguin. "I don't understand, and I doubt I ever will, but just because you won't be in the P.I.O anymore, doesn't mean you have to do this." She said hoping her friend would understand.

Hazel looked away. "No I do, you wouldn't understand."

Kia looked at the brown feathered penguin with big eyes. "Hazel, don't do this." She begged and Hazel sighed.

"I have too..." She trailed off and it was silent for a moment before she continued. "This rookery has wronged me, wronged me more than you will ever know, and now I intend to get my revenge...Goodbye Kiki, have fun in prison." She said and with that two giant metal wings sprouted from her backpack type thing and she took to the air, leaving Kia behind.

Kia shook her head. "Hazel!" She yelled but the penguin was gone. Kia turned around to look down below at the rookery, knowing there was nothing she could do, and just then, Penguin-Haven exploded.

Her eyes widened and she began to shake her head in distress. "No-no-no, Hazel couldn't do something like this, she can't do something so evil, something isn't right. This isn't Hazel..." She tried to convince herself.

"Ms Plunder, you have a lot of explaining to do." Came a voice from behind and Kia turned around to see a group of penguin agents.

Kia was still trying to process everything as she looked at them. "What do you mean?" She asked in confusion and the agents glanced at each other.

"We have video surveillance of you planting a bomb in the middle of that rookery, we have one of your pink ribbons in an evidence bag, two days ago you went on a rampage in that very town, and now we find you watching the explosion." They explained.

Kia began to feel dread as she looked at them. "Wha-what are you getting at?" She asked and gulped, already fearing the answer.

"Agent Plunder-you are under arrest."

Kia's eyes widened and she began to back up. "B-but I didn't do that! It was Hazel, I never killed anyone!" She said and backed up even more.

The agent that had talked earlier spoke again. "You're going to need more than that to prove your innocence." He said and the other agents advanced.

Kia shook her head. "I didn't do it!" She insisted and pulled away as an agent tried to grab her. "Don't touch me! I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" She insisted frantically but it was to late, she was under arrest for murder, and they were taking her in.

 **CnC**

Kia sat down in her chair, as her grandfather sat down in the one across from her, he had a look of pure distress on his face, and he seemed so tired and old as he sat there. "Kiaaaa, this is not good." He said, dragging her name out.

She sighed and looked down, her usually pink ribbon had been replaced by a prison orange color, which she had requested. "I didn't do it Grandpa, I didn't blow up the rookery." She explained and her grandfather looked at her.

"Than who Kia? I don't have time to deal with you in prison, while I still have The Puppeteer running loose! What's worse is that they have evidence against you, and lots of it too, they have footage of you planting the bomb! Do you know what the penalty for murder is Kia?" He asked and Kia shifted uncomfortably. "It's death! Death Kia! You are going to be sentenced to death as soon as the jury decides, I can not do anything about this anymore, Kia there's absolutely nothing I can do. You are going to be sentenced to death."

 **CnC**

Kia was escorted back to her cell and she waddled sadly in, how could she have fallen for something so stupid? Hazel had changed, and the Hazel that she knew was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

She climbed up onto her bunk and curled up into a little ball, and soon she began to cry, she was only nineteen, she was supposed to have her entire life ahead of her, but now she would be lucky to live another week, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Suddenly she heard someone calling to her from the cell next to hers.

"Psst, kid-down here."

Kia looked down and climbed down her bunk to go sit by the end of the cell. "Who are you?" She asked, a little warily.

"Someone wrongly accused of something, just like you, you're Plunder right? In here for blowing up an entire rookery?" Asked the voice and Kia instantly got defensive.

"I didn't do it." She said and the voice huffed.

"I believe yah, I do. But the thing is, no one else will."

Kia paused for a second. "What's your name?" She asked, even though she couldn't see the prisoner through the walls.

"My name is Rupert, I'm a Puffin, I've been in here a couple months, my own cousin ratted me out to save his sorry tail feathers back in Denmark, and I can help you escape." Rupert said and Kia froze in place.

She knew running away from her situation would only confirm that she killed those people, but if she didn't escape, she would die. "Why should I trust you?" She asked and Rupert huffed.

"Wary, that's a good trait, but listen, all I want is to escape as well, I've heard about you Plunder, apparently you're the best hacker out there, if we can work together, we can both escape." He explained.

Kia nodded. "Okay, but I don't have access to anything they I could hack, I need something to use, or else I can't hack onto anything." She explained.

"Go over to the cell door." Kia did as she was told and sudden something small slid over to her from the cell beside her and she reached through and grabbed it to find that it was a small gaming system.

Her eyes widened in amazement. "How?" She asked and Rupert laughed.

"Snuck it from a guard, and if you're as good as they say you are, I have a feeling you can get us out of here." Rupert said and Kia smirked slightly as she looked down at the gaming system.

"Oh believe me, I'm better than what they say." She said and instantly got to work, it wasn't very hard since she knew everything about the P.I.O system, and she soon was able to make the locks on her cell and the one next to her's open and let them out.

She waddled out to see Rupert the puffin was already out there. "I can turn off all systems for at least five minutes, if we use the secret tunnels, we can go unnoticed and will be able to make it out safely just before the power turns back on." She said and Rupert grinned.

"Kid, you're everything they've said and more."

 **CnC**

Once the two were a safe distance away from the prison, Kia looked back at it longingly, she had never thought she would spend the rest of her life as a wanted fugitive, it actually hurt a little bit to think about it, and she wondered if this was how Hazel felt.

Rupert seemed ready to walk away right then, but he couldn't help but notice how sad Kia looked. "Thinking bout going back Plunder?" He asked with a raised eye.

Kia shook her head and sighed sadly. "No, they still think I killed everyone in that rookery, but it still hurts-that was my home." She explained and Rupert felt bad for her.

He groaned softly to himself. "What's the matter with you Rupert? Prison made you soft." He lectured to himself before looking at the young penguin agent. "Well, you helped me-I'll help you, if you say you ain't guilty, then lets find some proof, let's prove your innocence." He said and Kia looked at him in surprise.

"You would really do that for me?" She asked and he nodded.

"Let's call it an eye-for-an-eye situation, you helped me escape even though that goes against your whole agent rules, I'll help you prove your innocence so you can go back to being that goody goody agent." He explained and Kia chuckled slightly.

The penguin turned to look at the puffin and she smiled. "I like that idea Rupert, I like it a lot."

 **CnC**

After some traveling and actual work, Kia and Rupert found themselves in a small rookery far from any bases or HQ, the town was extremely quiet and they had yet to see any other penguins.

Kia glanced around, feeling rather unsettled. "Do you have a bad feeling about this, like I do?" She asked and gulped slightly, why was the rookery completely empty, it just didn't make sense.

Rupert nodded. "Yeah, this is weird, maybe we should turn around and look for a rookery that actually has people in it." He recommended as he looked around, a little paranoid of the entire situation.

Kia nodded. "I like that idea, let's do that-besides I don't think Hazel would have come through this way, and finding her is the only way to show everyone that I didn't do it." She said determinedly and Rupert nodded.

"Right, so let's just get out of this creepy ghost rookery and never come back." He suggested and just as they turned around to head the other way, the entrances were sealed off by master puppets that crowded the exits, making it so they couldn't leave.

"You're not going anywhere, you must have some nerve coming to my town like this, who exactly do you think you are?" Asked a voice as it echoed throughout the entire rookery, but Kia couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, it looked like it was coming from every angle.

She breathed and stood completely stiff as she glanced around, trying to follow the echoing of the voice, but to no avail. "W-who are you?" She asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer, or if she already did.

The chuckling got louder and it seemed to come from all angles, and then coming from the midsts of the puppets, emerged one emperor penguin. "I am: The Puppeteer." He said as he came into view.

 **CnC**

Rupert glanced over at Kia, who was glaring at the emperor penguin as he said who he was. "Hey kid, you're gonna have to fill me in, I've been in prison for a few months." He explained and Kia continued to glare.

"The Puppeteer is Penguin enemy number five, he has been terrorizing all of Antartica with his evil puppets and his inexplicable way of somehow turning living people into his living puppets, no one quite knows how he does it." Kia explained and Rupert gave a nod of understanding.

The Puppeteer nodded. "Thanks for the introduction, and I believe you just trespassed on my turf, see so now you'll have to join the others." He explained simply, looking them over.

Kia paused and tilted her head. "The others? What in the name of gravity do you mean the others?" She asked, unsure of what he meant and right then the Puppeteer pulled a string of sorts that was rapped around him and some of his puppets pushed away a block of ice to reveal the penguins from the rookery, and a familiar brown feathered penguin.

Kia glared. "Hazel." She breathed out and Rupert glanced at her.

"She's the one who really blew up the rookery, right?"

"Right."

The Puppeteer looked at them. "Now, I haven't just captured these poor pathetic penguins, but I have also tagged them." He said and sneered a rather unpleasant snake like smile.

Rupert raised an eye. "You tagged them?" He asked, clearly not understanding it.

The Puppeteer nodded. "You have been wondering how I create live puppets haven't you? Well it's like this." He explained and pressed a button, making one of the penguins jolt up and move her body unwillingly, as the Puppeteer placed his remote like he was occupying a robot. "Once I tag someone, they become my living, breathing puppets."

 **CnC**

Kia looked at him, although she kept glancing back over at Hazel, who looked like she might be trying to escape, she turned back to The Puppeteer and looked at him like he was crazy. "You tag people to use as living puppets, and that doesn't disturb you? Because that's sick." She explained simply.

The Puppeteer shrugged. "I like to thing it's creative and useful, why waste penguins by killing them when instead I can just puppeteer them?" He asked and then glared. "Speaking of which-now that you and your puffin friend know all this, I'm going to have to tag you as well." He said and grabbed some sharp blue little nanotechnology things that were just barely big enough to see, and then he threw them at the two.

Kia dodged just in time and slid over to the puppeteer, knocking the remote out of his flippers, and making it fiz slightly.

As soon as it was down, Hazel had released herself from her bands and after grabbing her metal wings, she took off, leaving everyone else behind.

The Puppeteer quickly picked up his remote again and advanced his living puppets at Kia, and pretty soon she was surrounded, and Rupert knocked some of the 'puppets' down and grabbed Kia by the scruff and and ran off, leaving the Puppeteer to advance to his next victimized town.

 **CnC**

Once Rupert and Kia were safely away, Kia glared at him. "What did you do that for? He needed to go down, if I was able to tackle him down without hurting any of the civilians, he would be down." She snapped.

Rupert looked at her and folded his wings. "The Puppeteer is not our task, we are finding Hazel to prove your innocence, we didn't need to get distracted by some emperor penguin who has a creepy hobby." He stated stubbornly.

Kia looked at him and shook her head. "Right now, the Puppeteer is much more dangerous than Hazel, I might not be proven innocent yet, but I can't sit around and do nothing with Penguin enemy number five is out and about, I don't care if I never prove my innocence, if it means I can at least stop someone else from reigning evil, then I'm going to do that." She said and began to head in the direction that the Puppeteer went off in. "You don't have to come with me Rupert, but the Agent inside me is telling me to fight the Puppeteer, and leave Hazel for now, and that is what I'm going to do." She said and walked away, leaving Rupert alone.

The puffin huffed and rolled his eyes, and watched her go-if she wanted to risk her innocence for some puppet guy, then she could, but still..he had promised to help prove her innocence, and he wasn't someone to abandon a promise. He sighed and looked up at the sky where he could spot what looked to be a penguin flying in the air and he begun to get an idea, maybe he could still prove Kia's innocence after all.

 **CnC**

Kia was able to follow the Puppeteer's tracks fairly easily, considering they hadn't had a snow storm in a good while, so there was nothing to cover up his tracks, however as she got closer, she quickly realized which rookery he was attacking next, and it sent a feeling of despair up her spine.

For he was attacking the rookery where most of the families of P.I.O agents lived, including her brother and sister.

She glared determined and got ready to slide in the town when something stopped her, she was a wanted criminal right now, if anyone was to find out what she was doing, she would be in big trouble, but still-he had to be stopped.

Kia pushed any worries away and took off, sliding into the town, but by the time she got there she realized it was just as empty and quiet as the one before had been, it was too late-The Puppeteer had already arrived.

She clenched her flippers into fists and walked around the now empty rookery, igloos stood in complete silence, and snow whistled around blissfully from the gentle breeze that flew passed.

Right then she heard something from behind her and turned her head around to see the Puppeteer standing with his remote in his flippers.

"Ah, ribbon girl-I was wondering when you would show yourself again, I must say I'm impressed, I would have thought you would have run,"

"I've already run once recently, I wasn't about to do it again."

"So, you've come to defeat me?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

Kia nodded. "That's correct." She stated and he looked at her and titled his head, allowing all his strings to drape off him and all his wooden puppets fell, now that he was creating living puppets, he had no need for the wooden ones any more.

"Tell me ribbon girl, why does it matter? Why do you have to defeat me? Out of all the other people who I could fight, why should you have to fight me, why not leave it for the next person?" He asked.

Kia looked at him. "Because, how do I know someone else would fight you? I can't afford to sit around for someone else to do something I can do now, if I want change, I have to be willing to get it-that is why I can't wait for someone else to come around and take care of you, because I just don't know if they would." She explained.

The Puppeteer nodded. "You have spirit, I'll give you that-but I have an army, and not just any army-a puppet army."

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, Rupert had followed Hazel all the way to the place she was staying and watched as she folded her wings back in and fluffed up her feathers, he would help Kia prove her innocence, and now he had a way to achieve that.

He sneakily made his way closer and closer to her camp, all he needed was proof, anything at all, and as he looked around, he spotted a black bag and made his way over and poked around in it.

He continued to look around until he found something that might just work and he grinned. "Why hello-I think I just found something that can help." He said.

"Who are you?" Came a voice and he turned to see Hazel glaring at him.

Rupert looked at her. "So, you're the Flying Storm? Huh-well, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't come back here." He said and chuckled slightly, this did make things more difficult.

 **CnC**

As soon as the Puppeteer made a move for a weapon, Kia grabbed an icicle off a igloo and broke it off before pointing it at him and he looked unamused.

"What do you tend to do with that? Attack me? Please, that's pathetic-puppet 46 advance." The Puppeteer said and one of his live puppets came after Kia with an icicle of his own and charged at Kia.

Kia dodged it and didn't know what to do, she couldn't fight a civilian! That was wrong, but still he was attacking her, so she continued to dodge but wouldn't attack, as she slowly began making her way over to the Puppeteer where he was waiting, with an icicle in flipper, knowing what Kia was doing.

She soon made it to the Puppeteer and turned around to attack him, but he had seen it coming and had blocked the attack, and he put the remote down and flexed his muscles.

"I haven't fought a real person in a long time, this will be fun." He said and Kia shook her head.

"It'll only be fun until you're in prison-which is not a fun place to be mind you."

"How would you know? You're clearly just a stupid agent, you wouldn't know what prison life is like!"

Kia remained quiet that time as she attacked, however he had picked his remote back up and this time he was sending all his living puppets at her, she had people coming at her from all angles, and the worst part was that the Puppeteer and disappeared somewhere into the crowd.

She circled around, keeping her icicle sharp as she pointed it out, warning any and everyone off. "I don't want to hurt you." She said to the all around group, and from the looks in their eyes she could tell they felt the same, but they didn't have any control.

Suddenly they all attacked and Kia jumped into the air just in time, and fell back to the ground in the flurry and slid around them, trying to spot the Puppeteer from amongst the group, but it was becoming more and more difficult with each attack, however she was able to spot some P.I.O agents that were finally making it into the town.

The agents began restraining the 'puppets' and Kia climbed up on top of an igloo, still holding her icicle as she looked around, and she soon spotted an emperor penguin holding a remote and she smirked before throwing her icicle at the remote and it stabbed right through it, and instantly everything powered down and the penguins regained control over their bodies.

 **CnC**

As soon as everything powered down, The Puppeteer shook his head. "No!" He yelled and right then Kia slid over to him and glared as some agents came up from behind him and tied his flippers behind his back.

"That's the problem with puppets, take down the master and everything else falls." Kia stated coldly and he glared as the penguin agents began dragging him off much to his displeasure.

"I'll get you for this ribbon-girl, you will pay for defeating me, believe me-when I get my revenge, you will wish you had never tried to stop me!" He yelled and Kia watched him go and shook her head, and right then she heard someone clear their throat from behind her and she turned around to see some agents.

The first one looked at her. "We owe you for taking down the Puppeteer, but I'm afraid that doesn't change the fact that you have been accused of murder...and ran from it." He said and Kia sighed and nodded before putting her flippers up.

"I know, I shouldn't have ran, but I hope to eventually prove my innocence, at least if I don't die first." She said and looked at them. "Go ahead and handcuff me-but I have flippers, and you have flippers, so it's kinda flipping useless, but still-maybe you can tie my flippers together or something." Kia said.

The agents glanced at each other before one of them got some rope out and got ready to tie her flippers together when much to everyone's surprise, a familiar puffin ran over.

"Wait! I have proof that Plunder is innocent." Rupert called as he ran over and showed them some papers, one was blueprints for the bomb that blew up the rookery, and the other was a carefully drawn out plan for the destruction of Penguin-Haven, and in his other wing he had some parts to build a bomb with. "I tracked down the Flying Storm and found all of these in her hideout, I had to fight her-but I got away." He explained.

The agents picked up the stuff and looked at them.

Kia looked at them anxiously. "Well?" She asked and they looked up and smiled.

"Well, it's something-not enough to prove your innocence completely, but it's a start." The first one said and Kia looked at him.

"Which means?"

"We might just be able to prove your innocence." He explained and Kia smiled and sighed in relief, however then the agent squinted at Rupert. "Do I know you?" He asked.

Rupert instantly shook his head. "No, I'm just an average every day puffin helping a friend, that's it." He said quickly, not wanting to go to jail again and the agent bought it.

"Very well, carry on." He said and Rupert grinned and nodded before heading off, waving to Kia as he did so and Kia waved back.

Kia turned to the agents and gave a small smile, tilting her head. "So, what now?" She asked with an energetic and eager smile.

What happened after that was that they brought her back and gave her a lawyer, she was also put into some rehab with s penguin agent named Daniel, and not too long after, they were able to prove her innocence and she was able to become and agent once again.

 _(Flashback end)_

 **CnC**

Kia finished telling her tale and looked at all the penguins who had listened in. "Rehab wasn't fun, but I did prove my innocence, and a year later I joined Team Watermelon, of course you guys are the first to really know what happened." She explained and slowly everyone nodded.

Hazel thought for a second. "I was kinda twisted back then." She thought out loud, as she thought about everything she had actually done back then and Kia nodded.

Kowalski glanced over at Hazel. "You do realize that more than half of Kia's problems are because of you?" He asked and Hazel shrugged.

"Oh come on, I've done good things too-and what about Kia running from the prison! That wasn't on me, that was a classic Kiki stupid moment."

"I don't have that many stupid moments, name three." Kia ordered and everyone did.

"Fighting Dakota by yourself."

"Willingly getting yourself kidnapped by the Rat Master."

"Coming to Egypt two days before laying your egg."

"Ettin 'elf st'ck 'n 'ceiling."

"Literally every prank ever back at the Penguin Academy."

"Trusting Hazel all those times."

Kia huffed and folded her flippers. "Okay, I said three-I think you've all proved your point-I don't always make the smartest decisions, can we please move on?" She asked and everyone nodded. "Good, now come on-the zoo should be opening soon and we should all get up top." She said and everyone began heading up, however Kia followed slowly behind the others.

Although she wouldn't admit it, she couldn't help but think back to her dream. She always believed dreams were important, and a dream about the Puppeteer seemed a little random, and she couldn't help but think back to what he had said all those years ago about getting revenge.

Maybe her dream was more than just a nightmare, maybe it was predicting a possible future.

Kia sighed and shook her head, she was thinking about this too much, it was just a stupid dream after all, and although she still had a bad feeling about it, she decided to ignore it and followed everyone else up top to continue with the day, forgetting all about the horrible dream and eerie feeling she had had mere moments ago.

 **Me: Woah, super long chapter-sorry about that.**

 **Kia: So, tell us what you think of this chapter in a review, sorry for such a late update, but don't worry Misty's working hard to get all of her stories up to date.**

 **Me: Yup, also, here have a preview for next chapter.**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _Nika glared as she looked at the fennec fox that was flaunting off her stupid little tricks and her stupid little stories, and she continued to glare. "Eet ees not just me ees eet? Because I think vat stupid little fox ees nothing but trouble." She said and the other girls shook their heads._

 _"It's not just you Nika-something is definitely wrong with that fox, and I don't think any of us like it...or her." Nutmeg said and pouted slightly as she sent a glare towards the fox, who was rubbing her tail around a certain squirrel._

 _Ty smirked. "Are you sure you girls aren't just jealous of all the attention she's getting from the boys?" She asked and all the other girls turned to her and glared._

 _"No!"_

 **Me: I'll try and update again later today, until then: bye readers, and remember to review!**

 **Kia: So we have two chapters that are a bit more on the happy side, and then things take a turn for the worse.**

 **Me: Which you weren't supposed to know-did you break my spoiler-sensor?**

 **Kia: Maybe.**

 **Me: Great, because now you also get to fix it-go! Fix my machine.**

 **Kia: Fine.**

 **Me: Bye reader, and remember to review. Cya next time-and Kia before you start, I am very much aware that we cannot actually see them.**


	7. Stupid Cupid

**Me: Sha la la la, welcome readers to our Valentines Special!**

 **Kia: There are so many things wrong with that sentence, first we call them CnCuddlers, second; it isn't even Valentine's Day! Third: This is not a special, fourth: we already had a Valentine's Special, and finally fifth: You forgot the apostrophe in the word Valentine's.**

 **Me: Okay yeah whatever, it technically is not a Valentine's special considering it isn't even placed during Valentine's Day, however it could totally be a special like that.**

 **Kia: Not the point.**

 **Me: Right, anyways...So here's the chapter, it's actually kinda funny that I'm writing a 'romance' right after writing the last chapter, that bit was rather dark.**

 **Kia: And creepy.**

 **Me: yes, and creepy. Anyways, we should let you read, enjoy the chapter! It is meant to be humorous.**

 **Kia: It is.**

It was a beautiful August night in the Pennsylvania zoo, however the zoo animals or at least the males were far to busy fighting each other to notice as a shadow made her way passed them all, and hummed quietly to herself, her work there was done.

The shadow crept into the light to reveal that the character was a beautiful fennec fox with dazzling amber eyes and an absolute beautiful color and fur, she was gorgeous. She smiled as she stepped out into the open and she quickly pulled out a bottle of perfume and sprayed herself twice with it.

Breathing in the sweet smell of Strawberries, she put the bottle of perfume away and glanced back over at the zoo in which she had just come from, and just as she expected, you could still hear the noise of animals fighting each other, and she gave a small hmmph of approval, her work here was done.

She began walking away, but not before she pulled out a nice sparkly pink clipboard with a list of zoo names on it, and with one quick movement she crossed off the zoo from the list and scrolled down. "Now, let's see where I'm going next." She said in a voice like honey.

The fennec fox soon found the next un-crossed off zoo name on the list and she gave a perfectly amazing smile. "Alright, Central Park zoo-here I come." She said in her sing-song voice and skipped off, perking her ears to the distant fighting animal screams.

 **CnC**

 _(Start le song)_

 _"Stupid Cupid, you're a real mean guy, I'd like to clip your wings so you cant fly!"_

 _"I am in love and it's a crying shame, and I know that you're the one to blame."_

 _"Hey, hey, set me free: Stupid Cupid stop picking on me."_

 _"I can't do my homework, and I can't thing straight, I meet him every morning at 'bout half-past eight."_

 _"I'm acting like a lovesick fool! You've even got me carrying his books to school."_

 _"Hey, hey, set me free: Stupid Cupid stop picking on me."_

 _"You mixed me up too good, right from the very start: Hey go play Robin Hood with somebody else's he-ea-art!"_

 _"You got me jumping like a crazy clown, and I don't feature what you're putting down."_

 _"Well since I kissed his loving lips of wine, the thing that bothers me is that I liked it fine."_

 _"Hey, hey, set me free: Stupid Cupid stop picking on me."_

 _(Instrumental)_

 _"You got me jumping like a crazy clown, and I don't feature what you're putting down."_

 _"Well since I kissed his loving lips of wine, the thing that bothers me is that I liked it fine."_

 _"Hey, hey, set me free: Stupid Cupid stop picking on me."_

 _"Hey, hey, set me free: Stupid Cupid stop picking on me."_

 _"Stupid Cupid.."_

 _"Stupid Cupid..."_

 _"Stupid Cupid..."_

 _"Stupid Cupid..."_

 _"Stupid Cupid..."_

 _(Finish song)_

It was early morning before the zoo opened in the Central Park zoo, and two certain teams were in a buzz as it was finally the day that Team Watermelon moved into their new base, the one much closer to the Penguins than they would have liked.

It wasn't that they didn't like the Penguins, because they did-they just felt like they were invading their turf a bit, and would rather have been moved somewhere a bit farther out.

Nika nodded in approval as she looked at the new base, they had just finished moving it, and she was beginning to already like the base, it was round and circular, covering all the areas that they needed, and although it only had three bedrooms in it, that was perfectly fine-as Kia would be sleeping at the Penguin habitat, it was a lot more open than before, and other than the bedrooms, bathrooms, and Kia's lab, everything was out in the open as one big place, Nika liked how open it was.

"Alvight, ve still have few hours until zoo opens, how about ve train?" She asked, and Ty and Nutmeg groaned slightly.

Ty had wanted nothing more than Nika to put more focus on training before, but she had done most of the heavy lifting with the moving, and now she was beginning to wish that Nika cared a little less about training.

Nutmeg looked at her. "Actually Nika-I was kinda hoping we could take the rest of today off, you know since we did all the moving, and that was from the Bronx zoo all the way over here, we already did training in a way, don't you think?" She asked and after a pause Nika nodded.

"I suppose you are vight, but vut are ve going to do for ve next few hours?" She asked, not knowing what to do if they weren't going to train. Nika had found that she had a lot of free time now since she wasn't off making sure Julien didn't die, and she didn't quite know what to do with all her free time.

Nutmeg stood up off her fluffy white chair and looked over at the lemur. "We could go play with Koko, last I checked Hazel was still her favorite aunt, we really need to work on that." Nutmeg said and Ty nodded.

"No way I'm having Hazel the 'rehabilitated' be Koko's favorite aunt! That position is supposed to be mine!" Ty stated fiercely and the other two looked so her.

Nika shook her head. "You are all mistaken, I should be her favorite aunt." She said and folded her arms as Nutmeg shook her own head.

"Excuse me, but I'm the nice one-shouldn't I be the favorite?" She asked and Ty leaned casually on the green watermelon colored walls.

"Well then, let's just all go over there and...whoever gets there first gets Koko for the entire day!" Ty yelled and took off before the others could even know what's going on and as soon as they did they took off after her.

They all quickly left the base and crashed into the Penguin habitat and fell down the base as the four penguins that were there looked at them.

Skipper took a sip of his coffee. "I hope this doesn't become a regular Watermelon, otherwise you'll have to go back to Bronx." He stated as the three girls hurriedly got up off the ground and brushed any dirt off them.

Nutmeg tilted her head. "Sorry Skipper, we just came looking for Koko, do you know where she is?" The squirrel asked and it was Kowalski who answered.

"Hazel took Koko out for a walk, they'll be back soon." The intellectual responded and the three girls poured slightly.

Right then, some lemurs crashed down into the HQ and Julien, Maurice, and Mort entered and got up.

"Hello neighbors, I am to be seeing if Watermelon has finished moving it in yet, so I can be throwing them a moving party!" Julien exclaimed and Skipper rolled his eyes.

"Sure, come on in-it's just a big old open house for everyone." He said sarcastically as Julien spotted Nika and grinned as he ran up and hugged her.

He happily hugged her. "Nika! You are here now, I can be throwing you, your moving party now!" he said as he stopped hugging her and Ty turned to Nutmeg.

"I'm never going to get used to those two being together." She whispered and Nutmeg rolled her eyes.

Nika shook her head. "Ve do not need a 'moving' party Julien." She stated and right then someone else came crashing into the base.

"Ahhh!" Kia yelled as she entered, tossing mail everywhere into the air as she held a letter close to herself and everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "Kowalski! Kowalski! Kowalski! You will never believe what just came in the mail!" Kia yelled as she ran up to Kowalski and showed him the letter.

Kowalski gasped. "It's a letter from Science ! Is it really that time of year again?" He asked, equally excited and Kia nodded and they both began jumping up and down in excitement.

Skipper looked at them. "What in the name of sweet lady justice is going on here?" He asked, making the two excited geniuses turn to face Skipper.

"We've just been accepted to Science !" Kowalski exclaimed happily and Kia nodded.

"Every year Science Edge picks up to five people to come work on the next biggest scientific breakthrough for a week, and Kowalski and I have been applying for years, and we finally got accepted!" She said happily.

Ty blinked. "Good for you, but what exactly is Science Edge?" She asked and they both turned to her and spoke at the same time.

"It's a completely animal science company, the biggest animal science company in fact, they work on the next big breakthroughs, and are the reason we have all our advanced technology like holographic communications devices and all the incredible weapons we have." They both said and Ty blinked.

"That's creepy." She said referring to how they said the same thing at the same time.

Nika raised an eye at the two. "Vut exactly does vis mean?" She asked and Kia answered while smiling.

"Well it means Kowalski and I will have to leave for Tokyo: Japan for a week to work on the project, will you guys be okay without us for that time?" She asked, as it suddenly dawned on her that her teams might not like them leaving.

Skipper nodded. "My only concern is Koko, you two can't go off and leave her for a week, she's only two years old." He explained rather plainly.

Kowalski nodded. "We already thought of that, Koko would naturally come with us, as would Hazel as while we were at the lab, we would need someone to watch her, we have been planning this for two years, we already have everything set up." He explained and Skipper nodded.

"Okay then, when do you leave?" He asked and they once again spoke at the same time.

"Tomorrow."

 **CnC**

Soon 'tomorrow' came and the four penguins left, and everyone else was just going about their day.

Skipper, Rico, and Private were smiling and waving in their habitat when they noticed Alice was dragging a crate over to a spare empty habitat they had and Skipper raised an eye.

"Why didn't we know about a new zoo transfer?" He asked and Private answered.

"Well Skippah, it's usually K'walski or Kia who knows these things, without them here how were we to know about a new animal?" He asked and then suddenly gasped as he got an idea. "Skippah! We should go say hello! I bet it could some smashing good company!" Private exclaimed happily.

Skipper thought about it for a minute. "Morning rush is over, and I'd say our lemur neighbors and occupying the tourists-I'd say we could go greet the new animal, and if it's a spy we can give it a proper New Yorker welcome-right Rico?" He asked as he turned to the Physco who grinned.

Rico chuckled and nodded as he thought about which choice weapon he would hack up.

However right as they began to head over,a certain cat joined them.

"So, where are we going?" Ty asked as she joined in with the group and it was Private who answered.

"We're going to go say hello to the new animal." He explained and Ty nodded.

"Cool."

Soon the five animals made it to the habitat and as soon as they entered, all three penguin's eyes widened as they stared at the new zoo animal in surprise.

The fennec fox that was in front of them gave a dazzling smile. "Why hello there." She said and the three Penguins were still in too much of a daze to react to anything.

Ty rolled her eyes at the boys and extended her paw as she shook the fennec fox's paw. "Hi there, I'm Ty." The cat greeted and the fennec fox smiled again.

"I'm Cupid, it's a pleasure to meet you Ty-are your friends alright?" Cupid asked as she looked over at the three Penguins and Ty nodded plainly.

"Just give them time to come back to Earth." She stated and Cupid nodded and the two waited a minute before the boys finally snapped out of it.

Skipper grinned at the fennec fox. "I'm Skipper and these two are Rico and Private, and I would like to personally welcome you to the zoo." He said and Rico nodded eagerly beside him.

"Uh-huh, 'elcome!" He said happily.

Private smiled up at her as Cupid greeted them all, as she seemed to take an interest in all three of them.

"Thank you for welcoming me! I just came from the most dreadful zoo, everyone was so mean!" She exclaimed and Private looked at her.

"Mean? That sounds awful!" He said and then looked around the rest of the zoo. "Would you like a tour of the zoo?" He asked and Cupid nodded.

"Oh, of course! Thank you so much!" She said and instantly the three boys started leading her away.

Ty stayed back and blinked slightly. "Okay, I guess I'll just talk to you guys later?" She asked but was given no response.

 **CnC**

"And finally we have the lemur habitat-home of our annoying neighbors." Skipper said as he showed Cupid the lemur habitat and Cupid nodded slightly as she looked up at it.

"Can we meet who lives here?" She asked and Skipper was about to object, when Hugo jumped down to greet them with a huge smile plastered on his face.

He grinned. "Hey guys wha-Hello there." He said as soon as he spotted Cupid, who had finished spraying herself with her perfume. "You must be new here, for if you weren't-well we'd have to bat the visitors off with a stick! We have never had something of such...artwork here before." He said and gave a goofy smile. "I'm Hugo, and who might the beautiful lady before me be?" He asked.

Cupid gave a bedazzling smile. "Aren't you cute-I'm Cupid." She said and Hugo grinned.

"Well consider me shot by Cupid's arrow."

At that exact moment, Tina walked up to them and she looked a little confused. "Hey what's going on? Hugo why are you grinning like an idiot? I thought you were gonna help Micky and I build forts out of cotton." She said and Hugo dismissed her with a wave of his paw.

"Forts can wait, I'm busy." He said and Tina raised an eye at him.

"Forts can wait? Who are you and what did you do with Hugo?"

Soon after Tina came over, so did Maurice, Mort, and Micky and not surprising at all, they took an interest in Cupid, it seemed the boys just flocked to her.

However, not far away, the only other two lemurs were at the bar, with Nika explaining to Julien why the 'smarty-booty penguin and the girly penguin' couldn't fix his blender right now.

"They are not here right now, but they vwill be back soon." Nika explained and right then the two heard talking and turned to see practically all the boy animals fawning over a fennec fox.

Nika raised an eye at the scene before her. "Vho ees the new girl?" She asked out of curiosity and Julien honestly didn't see too interested until all of a sudden he breathed in the scent of Strawberries and he looked at the girl in awe.

"I have found her-I have found de perfect queen." He said and Nika looked at him in confusion.

"Julien vut are you talking about?" She asked however Julien had already made his way over to Cupid and was flirting with her, making Nika glare.

 **CnC**

It wasn't much later that Cupid had taken up sitting on the throne in the lemur habitat with the boys constantly talking to her, there had even been a few new add ons to the group after Antonio, Mason, Phil, Leonard, and even some animals from the park, such as Archer, Fred, Archie, and others had joined her.

Ever since she had arrived, boys had been flocking to her, and none of the girls were too happy about it, as they were all hiding out at Marlene's habitat as they watched Cupid flirt with a few of the boys.

Nika glared as she looked at the fennec fox that was flaunting off her stupid little tricks and her stupid little stories, and she continued to glare. "Eet ees not just me ees eet? Because I think vat stupid little fox ees nothing but trouble." She said and the other girls shook their heads.

"It's not just you Nika-something is definitely wrong with that fox, and I don't think any of us like it...or her." Nutmeg said and pouted slightly as she sent a glare towards the fox, who was rubbing her tail around a certain squirrel.

Ty smirked. "Are you sure you girls aren't just jealous of all the attention she's getting from the boys?" She asked and all the other girls turned to her and glared.

"No!"

Ty put her paws in the air. "Alright, alright, you aren't jealous, but in any case that doesn't explain how in the name of Pringles is this girl getting all your guys, unless all of a sudden all of you suddenly became really unattractive in the eyes of men." She said and Nutmeg glared.

"That's rich coming from someone who doesn't even have a boyfriend." She said and Ty winced and faked being offended.

"Ouch, I thought nutmeg was supposed to be a sweet seasoning!" She said and smirked.

Tina sighed and sat down next to Marlene. "I just don't get it-Hugo isn't a real big flirt, and now-well...he isn't acting like himself." She said and looked down, worried for her friend.

Nutmeg nodded as she watched Cupid rub her tail against Archer again and she glared. "Yeah, Archer isn't quite himself either, I don't know what he's doing." She said and Marlene muttered something about Antonio not being himself either.

Nika was still glaring daggers at Cupid. "Stupid Cupid, I vouldnt mind eef she somehow ended up een the sewers." She said and continued to watch from a distance, if she wasn't completely surrounded by a swarm of guys all the time, she would have already gone over there and taken care of her.

Ty simply leaned back on the fake cave in Marlene's habitat. "You know, at times like these, I really do appreciate that I gave up on finding someone, jealously is not something I like dealing with." She said and Marlene shook her head.

"We're not jealous Ty, Cupid is doing something that is affecting the guys, Antonio would never act that way!" She objected and Ty simply rolled her green eyes.

Nika sighed. "This ees stupid, ve don't need to hide, I am going over there." She said and started to make her easy out of the otter habitat while the others watched, she walked over to the lemur habitat, where everyone was and walked right over to Julien, who was talking to Cupid. "Julien, I think ve need to talk." She said stiffly as she glanced over at the fennec fox.

Julien seemed ness,y to distracted by Cupid to notice Nika, but he did hear her. "Yes Nika, we are needing to be talking." He said as he turned to her and Cupid stood close beside him. "After meeting Cupid, my eyes have been de opened, and I now know that it is her who is to be my queen, so uh-you can go now." He said dismissively.

Nika glared at him. "Two years, ve have been together two years, and now the first pretty face comes by, and you change your mind?" She asked sounding angry.

While they argued, the other girls watched from Marlene's habitat until Nika came storming back over, and if it was possible for someone to breath fire, they were pretty sure she would be right then.

Marlene looked at her. "How did it go?" She asked and Nika glared and muttered something in Russian before she returned to English.

"Males-no matter vut species are vorthless svine."

Ty nodded. "Preach it sister." She said and Nutmeg glared at her.

"You're not helping."

"Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to coddle you poor girls on your losses? Look either get over yourselves, and realize men are weak, or-come to the same conclusion I have." Ty said and Tina tilted her head.

The lemur looked genuinely curious. "What conclusion is that?" She asked and Ty grinned.

"Mind control." She said and the others groaned. "Hear me out-not one of the boys were acting this way before, and then the moment they meet Cupid they fall head over heals for her, and I doubt they usually would act this way unless somehow Cupid is using some form of mind control to make them all love her." Ty explained simply.

It was silent for a minute before Marlene nodded. "That actually makes sense, how did you figure that out?" The otter asked.

Ty smirked. "Well when your head isn't stuck in the clouds-or heating up a volcano, you actually have time to think clearly, it seemed like the most logical conclusion..." She trailed off before her eyes widened. "Great dynamite I sound like Kia!" She said in disbelief and the others laughed lightly.

 **CnC**

Cupid looked around to see that some of the boys had already started fighting in her favor, and she smiled-it was time for the big finale, she got up, sprayed herself with her perfume and walked over to Skipper, who was one of the ones that were not yet fighting for her. "Skipper, I've been thinking, this zoo just doesn't appreciate you!" She said as she walked over.

Skipper looked at her. "Hey dollface, I know you might be a little new hear, but I'm the one that fund this place-everyone respects me." He explained and Cupid tilted her head.

"But do they appreciate you like I do? Just now Antonio told me he wished you had never come back, and before that Rico said he would make a better captain, do they really appreciate you?" She asked and as Skipper thought it over, he realized she was right-they didn't respect him.

Cupid smiled. "You should go tell them why you are the only one who could possibly run this zoo." She said and watched as Skipper took off, unaware of the squirrel and otter watching not far off.

Nutmeg put the binoculars down. "That isn't like Skipper-I think Ty's hunch is correct, but how is she controlling them?" She asked as she looked down at Marlene, who she was standing on.

Marlene shrugged. "I'm not sure, but we need to stop this before it gets out of control." She said and right then a fight broke out in the zoo.

Nutmeg gulped. "Too late."

 **CnC**

Ty had figured that since Nika was a fuming mess of...fire, and that Nutmeg, Marlene, and Tina also were blinded by love that she would have to take up leadership of them for this time.

"Okay, so you're telling me, that Cupid started a fight between all the zoo boy animals?" She asked and then added under her breath. "Good thing the zoo is closed." She muttered before turning back to the group.

Marlene nodded. "Yes." She said.

Ty nodded. "That slippery vixen." She said before turning to them. "Okay, we have three task, and five people, so here's the plan-Nika, Marlene, you go stop the boys from killing each other, excessive force is allowed, and encouraged, get all your anger out on them if you want." She ordered and turned to Tina and Nutmeg. "You two-make sure nothing gets broken, and that we keep this in the zoo, I'll take down Cupid." She said and the girls looked at her and some folded their arms. "What? You guys are clearly to angry to fight her, none of you will be in your right mind, I'm the only one that isn't blinded by jealousy, it's the most logical thing for me to fight her-and great, I sound like Kia again." She said, sounding anything but happy about it.

Nika nodded. "Alright, but Ty-just because you are een charge of this mission, does not mean you are een charge of any other." She said and Ty nodded.

"Yeah, I got that-now go!" She ordered and the girls split into their own groups, and Ty started to track down Cupid, after she had studied enough, she was fairly certain that it was Cupid's perfume that caused everything, she had learned about it in Hong Kong, that certain smells can trigger the pheromones of males to act out in certain ways, and now she was glad she had taken that class.

 **CnC**

Nika and Marlene made their way over to the fighting boys, and they were both just happy that the zoo was closed, this would not be a good thing for humans to see. Nika glanced over at Marlene. "I am good vith excessive force eef you are." She said and pounded her paws together and Marlene looked at her.

"Let's try talking first." She suggested and Nika shrugged.

"Fine." She agreed and looked at the fighting scene before her. "How do you plan on getting a vord een?" She asked, and Marlene realized it would probably be hard considering all the boys were fighting.

"I didn't think that far ahead." Marlene confessed and Nika nodded simply and folded her arms.

"I still do not think 'talking' vwill vork." She stated simply and rather stubbornly.

 **CnC**

Ty pulled out a squirt gun out of her backpack as she walked over to Cupid, who had the Penguins with her, probably guarding her.

She remained calm as she squirted Cupid with the water gun. "Bad kitty." She taunted.

Cupid glared. "Who do you think you are! Skipper, Rico, Private, stop her! She's hurting me." She complained and the boys glared.

Ty squirted her again. "I'm getting you wet, why is that such a bad thing?" She asked and Cupid glared at her.

Skipper looked at Ty. "Cupid doesn't like getting wet, now go back home Ty." He ordered and Ty looked at him.

"Weren't you just starting a fight?"

"Cupid needed me." Skipper said and Private turned to him.

"No, Cupid needed me-I don't know why you're here." He argued and soon Rico got in on the mix and they were all arguing.

Ty sighed and shook her head at them. "Sad..." She said and waited for them to get to distracted in their argument to pay attention to Ty, and she turned back to Cupid. "So the fox doesn't like water?" She asked and smirked. "That's really too bad, because I have this hose here." She said as she pulled a hose out of her backpack. "And-oops, I just turned it on." She said.

Cupid tried to run but she got hit with the hose first, and it washed all her perfume off, completely drenching her. "Ahh! Stop!" She yelled and Ty turned off the hose.

"What's the matter prissy paws? Didn't like the impromptu shower? Or did you just not like that I figured it out?" Ty asked.

Cupid glared. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She tried as she searched for her perfume, that had been lost during the spray down.

Ty nodded and showed the fennec fox that she was holding the perfume. "Looking for something?" She asked and shook up the perfume.

Cupid glared. "Give it back! That's mine," she said and Ty nodded.

"Alright sure, you can have it back, but not yet-I wanna try it out for myself." She said and Cupid glared.

"Don't you dare."

"Don't worry, I wasn't gonna-I don't need perfume to get attention, I don't even need all that attention, honestly you're pathetic." Ty said and turned her attention to the Penguins. "Skippy, Rico, Private!" She called and Skipper turned his attention to her.

He raised an eye. "What is it Kitty?" He asked.

Ty shrugged. "Nothin, we just need a crate for Hoboken's newest zoo animal here." She said, however while they were distracted, they hadn't noticed that Cupid had slipped away, disappearing from sight, she wasn't gonna stick around when she wasn't needed.

Private blinked. "Um, where did Cupid go?" He asked and everyone quickly realized they the fennec fox was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah darn, we lost our prisoner. Now I'm gonna have a bunch of angry girls on my paws." Ty complained although her voice was lighthearted, closely showing that she was teasing, and being sarcastic, well at least for the most part she was.

 **CnC**

The next day, everyone was surprised to see that Kowalski, Kia, Koko, and Hazel had returned early.

Skipper took a sip of his drink. "So how was your geek thing?" He asked, as all the penguins were in the HQ, and Kowalski and Kia glanced at each other before shrugging.

"Could be better."

"Nothing to write home about."

Private tilted his head. "Why are you back early?" He asked out of curiosity as Hazel played around with the TV, and Koko watched as Hazel started messing around with the wires.

Kia shrugged as Kowalski answered. "It just wasn't worth our time, how were things here?" He asked and raised an eye as instantly the three boys got a bit flustered as they thought back to how they acted when Cupid had arrived.

Skipper answered first. "Nothing exciting to report here." He said and Private nodded.

"Just normal things." He said and Rico agreed.

"Yup."

Kowalski and Kia looked a little suspicious but right then there was a small explosion coming from the TV, and they turned around too see that the TV was in pieces, and Hazel was covered in soot.

Kia glared. "Hazel..." She started and the brown feathered penguin pointed down at Koko.

"Koko did it." She said and Koko gasped.

"Liar!"

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, over at the lemur habitat, Nika was talking to Tina over at the bouncy when Julien walked over.

"Nika-can we be talking in private?" He asked and Nika nodded and the two walked away from Tina, who went over to play with Micky.

Once Nika and Julien were far enough out of hearing range of the rest of the lemurs, Julien turned to Nika and scratched the back of his head. "So, uh I like didn't mean anything I said when Cupid was around." He said and Nika figured that was as close to an apology as she was getting.

She sighed. "I know Julien-you vere under the affect of her perfume, I do not blame you for your actions." Nika started and Julien sighed in relief. "However, eef vat ees how you look at our relationship-just a distraction until you find a queen-" She started but Julien cut her off.

"No, Nika you are not just a distraction-I mean you are very distracting, but ugh, you know what I mean." He said and looked at her. "What I am trying to say, is that Cupid like messed with my brain, I don't want just any girl, I want you, and just you." He explained.

Nika looked at him and her gaze softened. "Thank you Julien, eet feels good to know that." She said and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek before she saved goodbye and left to go back to her team, she still had to go welcome Kia back from her geek science edge thing.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile, somewhere else, a recently dried fennec fox was talking on the phone as she leaned against the wall of an alleyway, speaking into her cellphone that she had.

"You're right, they are good, I haven't had to work they much in awhile, and they ended up getting the best of me in the end." She spoke into the phone.

"I warned you they were good." Came the reply. "Head back to the base."

The fox nodded. "I'm on my way, we're going to have to work harder on that perfume if we want to use it in the future." She spoke and then another thought came to mind. "How's our little soldier doing?"

"He is almost complete in his training, very soon we will be able to send him out into the field."

Cupid nodded. "Good, once Zero is complete, we shouldn't have to worry shout the perfume as much...anyone who defies us will have to answer to him." She said and smiled. "Okay, I'm heading back to base right now-bye." She said and closed her cellphone before she stopped leaning on the wall and began to walk down the dark alleyway, her work was done and now it was time to go home.

 **Me: Sorry this chapter isn't very good, and that it's choppy, I ran out of ideas for it.**

 **Kia: We'll try and update again today, since it is much needed to catch up on both this story and SPSU.**

 **Me: In the meantime..**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _"I can't believe we're actually here! Here at Science Edge! For an entire week, aren't you excited Kowalski?" Kia asked as she looked around at all the incredible science she saw._

 _Kowalski nodded as he opened the door to the office they were supposed to go in. "This is our chance to get ourselves out there and be recognized for our genius, of course I'm excited!" He said happily, and right as they stepped into the room they saw three other animals._

 _The first one was a pig. "The Quinn's I presume?" He asked and they nodded and the pig gestured towards a pair of dogs, one was a yorkie and the other was a Maltese. "Meet the Davison's, you will be competing with them to work on the project." The pig said and the two Penguins turned to look at the dogs and glared._

 **Me: Okay, now I am starving and am going to go find something to eat...noodles sound good right now. Also song was 'Stupid Cupid' by Many Moore, I do not own it.**

 **Kia: Thanks for reading, and be sure to review, as well as tune in next time! Bye CnCuddlers!**


	8. Science Edge

**Me: It's the final countdown! Final countdown! Oh, the final countdown!**

 **Kia: Sometimes I worry about your inability to realize I start the chapter on time-because once again you didn't notice.**

 **Me: Man, this is the second time the CnCuddlers have caught me singing! Talk about embarrassing.**

 **Kia: To avoid you any more embarrassment of pointing out you have toilet paper stuck to your foot, would you like to start the chapter?**

 **Me: Today is just not my day...let's roll the film.**

 **Kia: Eventually you will understand that we do not have film, at least not yet anyways.**

 _(Heyo CnCuddlers, before we start the chapter, let's rewind some-Kay? *rewinds almost entirety of last chapter* okay, so here we are-Kowalski, Kia, Hazel, and Koko leaving for what? Japan, that's right! For Science Edge co, so enjoy their side of the story while everyone else got to deal with Stupid Cupid.)_

Kowalski, Kia, Hazel, and Koko had just got off the plane they had taken to get to Science Edge, which was a big globe shaped building out of the way of any major cities, as to conceal it from the human eyes.

Kia smiled and turned to Hazel and Koko. "Okay, I'm afraid you two won't be able to go with us inside the building, but there is an assortment of guest rooms off to the side, where we will be staying, our room is 5d, it has a penguin on it-you can't miss it, so why don't you two go get settled there, while Kowalski and I go talk to the leader of Science Edge: Doctor Porkchops." She explained and Hazel snorted with laughter.

"His name is Porkchops! What is he, a pig?" She asked and Kowalski nodded.

"Actually he is." The intellect informed them and Hazel paused to look at them in surprise.

She tilted her head. "He is?" She asked and the Quinn's nodded, and she nodded slowly. "Poor guy, bad luck with names-although I can thing of many amazing yet not nice puns I could use on him, can't I come with you two?" She asked with puppy dog Hazel eyes.

Kowalski shook his head. "No, only those invited are allowed in, just go wait for us in our room, and make sure not to destroy anything." He told them and Hazel rolled her eyes as she started leading Koko towards the guest rooms.

"Geez Koala, why you so bossy?" Hazel asked before walking out of hearing distance and Kowalski shook his head.

He turned to talk to Kia, but she was already heading towards the inside of the building and he quickly caught up to her as the doors opened and they walked in and it wasn't long before Kia squealed in excitement and clung to Kowalski's flipper.

"I can't believe we're actually here! Here at Science Edge! For an entire week, aren't you excited Kowalski?" Kia asked as she looked around at all the incredible science she saw.

Kowalski nodded as he opened the door to the office they were supposed to go in. "This is our chance to get ourselves out there and be recognized for our genius, of course I'm excited!" He said happily, and right as they stepped into the room they saw three other animals.

The first one was a pig. "The Quinn's I presume?" He asked and they nodded and the pig gestured towards a pair of dogs, one was a yorkie and the other was a Maltese. "Meet the Davison's, you will be competing with them to work on the project." The pig said and the two Penguins turned to look at the dogs and glared at them, they had not been informed that they would have to compete in any way.

 **CnC**

The pig, or Doctor Porkchops, as his name was stood up from his seat and gave a pig like snort. "Now I'll give you four time to get to know each other, I have some pig slop calling my name downstairs." He said and excused himself from the room, leaving just the two couples.

Kia coughed slightly and looked at the dogs. "So, uh you're the Davison's?" She asked, trying to stir up some conversation between them, and it was then that she noticed that the yorkie was wearing a bright pink ribbon on her head, it almost matched her own.

The yorkie nodded happily. "I am Clara Davison, and this is my husband; Chadwick Davison, we have been married for two years." She explained stiffly and Kia gasped.

"Cool! We've been married for that long too!" Kia said excitedly and gestured over to Kowalski before regaining herself and looking at them. "I'm Kia Quinn, and this is my husband; Kowalski Quinn." She introduced.

At that time, Chadwick got up and gave a small hmmph. "They're considering putting penguins in on this project? Well I can't imagine they would be any good." He said and stood in a way that seemed he was belittling the two flightless birds.

Kowalski glared at him. "I'll have you know sir, that Kia and I are the leading scientists on our teams, not just some scruffy mutts off the street." He declared and Chadwick looked at him.

"Is that so? Well Clara and I are also the leading scientists on our teams, yes we work for the P.P.A-and scruffy mutts? We are both purebred, not just any random dogs, we are the greatest minds dog-kind has ever seen." He informed the penguin and Clara nodded.

She smiled. "It's true." She stated. "We also have a little girl, who is just a little genius-her name is Camilla, but me call her Cammy." She explained and Kia looked at her.

"We have a daughter too-her name's Kolette, but we just call her Koko." She explained and it was then that the two wives noticed that their husbands were still arguing.

Clara rolled her eyes. "Men, always arguing over stupid things, am I right?" She asked and Kia nodded.

"A friendly competition could do us some good." Kia agreed and Clara nodded.

"Yes well, I don't think it'll be much of a competition, but you keep dreaming water fowl." Clara stated before walking over to her husband and Kia froze, what did she just say?

Kia waddled over to Kowalski and glanced over at the dogs. "I'm sorry Clara, but could you repeat what you just said?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Clara nodded. "Certainly, I said that it won't be a competition, but you can keep dreaming." She said and Kia bristled, how dare some dog challenge her like that!

She turned to Kowalski. "Honey, I think they're right." Kia said and he looked at her in confusion before she turned back to the dogs. "There really won't be much of a competition-at least not on this end, at least we won't be distracted by the first squeaky toy that comes our way." She stated and Chadwick and Clara glared.

Clara growled. "Oh it is on flightless avian!" She said and Kia smirked.

"On like donkey con." Kia said and smirked as the dogs glared.

 **CnC**

Soon it was time for the first 'competition' to see which couple was best suited to work on Science Edge's newest project, which they would find out what it was if they won, Science Edge was very secretive of their works.

Doctor Porkchops snorted as he breathed in and let out a feint pig squeal before showing the two couples over to a table where random robotic parts stood everywhere on the tables and gestured for them to sit down. "This project requires advanced robotic skills, you are both to create a robot that is not only useful, but also smart, you have all of two hours." He instructed. "Only two of you will build the robots, you may pick who builds it on your team."

Kowalski glanced and Kia and smirked, robotics was one of Kia's finest scientific talents, however it seemed that Clara was just as much prepared.

Porkchops held a stopwatch and waited a second before pressing it. "Start." He instructed and instantly the yorkie and penguin got to work on building a robot.

Kia instantly got to work, she usually liked to have blueprints, but in a situation like this, she could work without them, and she did-she quickly started putting the random pieces to use, robots were easy, she had built a fire robot(Incinerator) when she was six, this was nothing.

Over at the doggy table, Clara was having a bit of trouble, as she might have been good at robotics, but she usually followed blueprints, it was hard to go without them, yet she somehow found a way to manage as well.

Time passed, both girls working tirelessly on their robots, and finally it was nearing the end time, two hours were almost up, and a few minutes before the two hours were up, Clara stood in triumph of having her robot finished, she had beat Kia in time.

However Kia wasn't even aware that she had gone a good ten minutes over the two hour limit before finishing her's, however when she was done, she was proud of it. "Done!" She said excitedly.

Clara huffed. "Rather slow, don't you think feathers?" She asked and Kia looked her dead in the eyes.

"Talent takes time." She stated and Porkchops cleared his throat.

"Now you will both present your robots-Davison you will go first." The pig doctor instructed and Clara took a step forward and put the round robot down.

She smiled. "His name is Turbo, he can maneuver around objects without running into them, while going extremely fast." Clara told them and pressed a button on the robot. "Observe." She said and Turbo raced around the area, however he soon fizzed and started to smoke, before dying and Clara gasped.

Kia rolled her eyes before showing Porkchop her robot, who she had used an old computer chip for. "Meet Defuser-the most advanced robot in bomb research, and defusing them, I can assure you that unlike Turbo, Defuser works." She said with a smirk and after a quick show, Porkchops nodded and scribbled something down on his notepad.

"Quinns win this round." He said and the Davidson's glared over at the two penguins, who stood proudly over their robot.

 **CnC**

However there was only to be one trial that day, and it would continue up back in the early morning, so Kowalski and Kia returned to their dorm room to find Hazel and Koko playing patty cake with each other, which was surprisingly normal for the two, usually they were doing something crazy.

Hazel turned and grinned at them as they returned. "Ah, Mummy and Daddy have finally returned!" She said sarcastically and got up, waddling over to them. "So, Kiki, Koala, how did it go? When do you start the project?" She asked happily.

Kowalski looked at her and replied flatly. "We don't know yet, first we have to compete again a couple of dogs, whoever wins gets to work on the project." He explained and Hazel made a face.

"Well, isn't that just sneaky! Why didn't I ever think up something so diabolical?" She asked and Kia looked at her in confusion.

"Hay, what are you saying?" Kia asked as she watched Koko move on from patty cake to doing some easy math on some paper.

Hazel smirked. "Dragging you all over here like this, getting your hopes up, only to give you a fifty fifty chance of working on the project! They told you, that you were accepted, but are you? Are you really?" She asked and Kia shook her head.

"It isn't like that Hazel, now why don't you go walk around the place or something?" She asked, kind of purposely trying to get rid of Hazel, who had a way of putting a damper on every situation.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah sure whatever, I get it, no one wants little old Hazel around anymore, boy do I feel loved!" She said dramatically before waddling out.

Kia shook her head as soon as the brown feathered penguin had left. "Hazel, sometimes you just have to hate her a little." She said with a slight chuckle, knowing that Hazel meant well but was a bit mean with certain things.

Kowalski nodded in agreement. "You did amazing today." He said happily, bringing the topic off Hazel. "Your robot was much better that Clara's." He told her soothingly and Kia smiled up at him with loving eyes.

"Thanks, and I'm sure you will do amazing tomorrow." She said, knowing that tomorrow they would have many other challenges, tasks, or competitions to face, they might have won the first one today, but tomorrow was a completely different story.

 **CnC**

Tomorrow came sooner than either had thought had soon Kowalski and Kia were sitting in front of a huge chess board with the two dogs: Chadwick and Clara sitting across from them.

Porkchops snorted, as if trying to clear his nose as he looked at the two couples. "This project requires wit-and strategic expertise, that is why two of you: one from each team will compete against each other in chess, whoever wins chess, wins the round." He explained, looking tired, as if he did this a lot.

Kia smiled at Kowalski. "You're up." She said and Kowalski smiled back as he stood in front of the chess set, and Chadwick sat across from him, and in a minute, the game had started, with Chadwick going first because his pieces were white.

Kowalski moved his piece, it was a simple pawn, and he moved into what might seem to be a stupid position, and Chadwick wagged his tail happily before taking the pawn with his bishop, and he looked up at the penguin.

"Wrong move bird, you just lost your first piece." He said with a smile and Kowalski kept eye contact as he moved his knight forward, taking his bishop and putting Chadwick's queen in danger.

"Your move Mr Davison." Kowalski said simply and sat back to watch as the dog looked at the chessboard, going over his options in his head, there had to be a way he could get out of this.

It took a minute, but soon Chadwick was able to block his queen from getting hurt and he grinned and the game continued, each having a better move than their last, and for a game of chess, with a room full of nerds, this was a very intense situation.

Time passed and soon the only pieces that remained were Kowalski's Queen, King, Knight, and a pawn, and Chadwick's Queen, King, Bishop, and two pawns, and both had each other in a trap.

The game had gone from a cool collected game of two confident men in their chess skills, to a crazy intense game of two shaking men, who were both in almost nervous wrecks as they played the game.

Chadwick hid half of his face underneath the table as he moved his pawn a step forward, his tail standing completely stiff in anticipation, hoping that was a good move, it looked like a good move, and as soon as the dog had put his piece down, Kowalski's figure instantly relaxed and the dog's brown eyes widened in fear as he realizes his mistake.

Kowalski cleared his throat as he moved his knight forward and took the pawn with a smirk. "Checkmate." He said and gestured to how he now had Chadwick's King trapped by his knight, queen, and pawn.

Chadwick sighed as he realized the penguin had won. "You win bird." He said and Kowalski grinned and instantly the tense heat of the room vanished as Porkchops crossed another one off for the Quinn's, who were now in the lead by two.

 **CnC**

Only a few minutes after trial number two finished, trial number three started and this time it was a bit different than the last two had been.

Kia looked at the obstacles course with slight disgust as she turned her attention to the pig, who was busy looking at his clipboard, and so he wasn't paying attention to the two couples. "Excuse me-Doctor Porkchops, but how does an obstacle course relate to a project of the mind exactly?" She asked timidly.

The pig looked up from his clipboard and let out a snort, as he had been doing for the past two days. "Because Mrs Quinn, I need to make sure you can find a quick and easy way out of any situation." He explained and put his clipboard down, walking over to them as the dogs chewed on some grass.

"You both have five minutes to finish this obstacle course, whoever finishes it first and most efficiently wins." He stated and the two teams got ready. "Remember-this one is more of teamwork, as you are working with your partner in this one." Porkchops explained and held out a flag. "Start." He ordered and the two teams took off into the obstacle course.

Now the thing about this obstacle course, is that it was much more meant for dogs than penguins, and it was much harder for Kowalski and Kia to finish the course than it was for Chadwick and Clara, who maneuvered through tunnels, up slides, and through hoops with ease.

And right when Kowalski and Kia were about half way through the course, suddenly tennis balls started hitting them.

Kia tumbled back, and slid back down the slide she had just climbed. "Ack, Kowalski where are those coming from?" She asked as Kowalski got down to help her back up the slide.

"I can't tell." Kowalski said and right as he was helping Kia get back, the balls made him fall down the slide as well, and the two ended up in a tangle of feathers and equipment at the bottom of the slide.

Meanwhile, Chadwick and Clara flipped through the last hoop together with ease and landed right passed the finish line and gave a bow as Porkchops marked it down for the dogs.

"The Davisons win this round." Porkchops replied and looked down at the two penguins who were still trying to untangle themselves. "We'll continue after lunch." He said, looking at them in disappointment as they struggled to free themselves.

Chadwick and Clara trotted passed the two birds with a smile as Clara looked at them. "Better luck next time." She sneered.

 **CnC**

Kia sat down at a lunch table and looked at her food. "Humph, obstacle course-how does that relate to the project anyways?" She asked and scowled at her food-Kowalski had gone to see what the next trial would be, so that they could be prepared, so that just left Kia to her lunch.

Right then Clara sat down across from her. "Hello Kia, mind if I sit here?" She asked and Kia shook her head, the cafeteria was one of the few places where anyone could be, and so not far off, Hazel was showing Koko some more advanced math.

Right then, Koko ran over to them and smiled. "Mommy, look at the times tables I did!" She said and Kia smiled as she looked at the paper.

"Very good Koko!" She said and Koko smiled before running off to do more, and Kia turned her attention back to Clara, who had a look of surprise on her face.

"You say your child is two?" She asked and Kia nodded. "And yet she is doing multiplications already?" Clara asked in shock, and slight disgust.

Kia nodded as she looked at the yorkie. "Kolette is very advanced for her age." She explained and Clara scoffed.

"No, what your child is-is a freak."

Kia instantly glared. "Excuse me, but you have no right to say that and I suggest you take it back." She said, her voice suddenly cold towards the snobbish dog who dared to insult her baby in front of her.

Clara tilted her head. "There is something called being advanced: that's what Cammy is, and then there is something called freakish, and that is what Kolette is-you probably dropped her as an egg or something that permanently damaged her brain cells." She stated with a look of ice.

Kia's glare thickened. "No! Well she did get experimented on by a crazy cat and scorpion as an egg...but that doesn't mean-" She was cut off by Clara who had already stood up.

"I rest my case." She said and walked away, leaving Kia to think back on her words, was Koko a freak? Sure she was way above her age, but that didn't mean they had anything to worry about, did it? Kia sighed and turned her attention to Koko who had just completed her sevens in multiplication. Maybe...well maybe she was different.

 **CnC**

Finally lunch ended and it was time for the next competition, after this there was only one left.

Kowalski looked over at Kia, she seemed distracted, which was unusual for her, especially when the competition was trivia. "Kia darling, are you alright?" He asked with a tilt of his head as he looked at his wife.

Kia's mind was elsewhere, as Clara's words repeated in her head, however she snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Kowalski and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." She lied, however Kia didn't want to make Kowalski worry.

Kowalski nodded a little bit before turning to Porkchops, who had been waiting for them to finish talking.

The pig snorted a little bit. "This trial is trivia, if you are going to work on this project you have to be well educated, whoever answers ten questions right first, wins." He stated and the two couples got ready.

Porkchops snorted a bit before looking at both couples. "Question one-Mrs Davison, this is for you: How many germs are on your hands or paws at any given time?" The pig asked and snorted again, he should really get that checked out.

Clara beamed as she answered. "5000." She stated proudly and Porkchops nodded.

"Correct, now Mr Quinn: how much mass is in the planet Neptune?"

Kowalski gave a smug smile as he answered. "The amount of mass in the planet Neptune is 102,410,000,000,000,000 billion kg, which is 17.15x more than Earth." He said proudly and Porkchops nodded as she snorted again.

"Correct, now Mr Davison..."

The trivia questions continued on for a good amount of time, each answering their chosen questions right, other than Kia who had answered a couple wrong already, and finally came the tie breaking question, and it went to Kia.

Porkchops turned his attention to Kia, who had seem distracted through this entire thing. "Mrs Quinn: What is Pi?" He asked and the room went silent, this was one of the easier questions.

Kia snapped out of her thoughts and started to answer the question. "Pi: it is the infinite number of 3. Uh p-point." She knew this, she had the entirety of Pi memorized in her last year at the academy, however she kept glancing over to Clara who was giving her a look and mouthing a continual thing of what she had said about Kolette earlier. "3.14-uh 3.14...1...5...ni-" She froze as Clara continued to stare and she broke. "I-I'm sorry I can't do this, excuse me." Kia said and briskly left the room, leaving an annoyed Porkchops, a confused Kowalski, a judging Chadwick, and an all so smug Clara.

Clara turned to face Porkchops, pulling the utmost innocent look she could. "So does that count as a forfeit?" She asked and blinked innocently.

Porkchops nodded and snorted. "I guess it does...in that case, Davisons you win this round." He said and the dogs cheered gleefully and hugged.

Kowalski stood up, he hadn't even heard Porkchops, something was clearly bothering Kia, she never messed up on Pi, and he was going to go find out what was bugging her before the next competition started.

 **CnC**

Kowalski found Kia sitting just outside the building, with her head in her flippers as she sat down and looked rather upset, he waddled over to her and sat down next to her, glancing at her slightly. "Kia." He said softly and she lifted her head to look at him in the eyes. "What's going on?" He asked, his voice soft.

Kia sighed. "I'm a horrible mother." She said at last and Kowalski looked at her in surprise.

"What? You are a wonderful mother! Where'd you ever even get an idea like that?" He asked and looked at her, she seemed so distressed and her feathers were a bit messier as well, and Kowalski just couldn't understand where all this was coming from.

Kia looked at him. "Clara said Koko's a freak, no two year old should be that advanced, she said I probably dropped her as an egg...Kowalski I let some crazy cat experiment on her! I was stupid enough to actually leave New York with an egg! Clara's right." She said, her voice breaking a little bit.

Kowalski shook his head and gently lifted her beak so that she was once again staring into his eyes. "None of that is true, Clara was just trying to get on your nerves, to make you distracted so we would loose, it was both our fault that someone did that to Koko, but she isn't a freak because of it, and she never will be." He said and after a pause Kia nodded slowly.

She sighed. "You're right, come on let's get back inside before the next trial starts."

 **CnC**

Finally came the last competition, and so far it was a tie, whoever won this one got to work on the project, and the others had to go home, knowing they wouldn't be able to work on the project.

Porkchops looked at the two couples and did his typical pig snort. "For the last competition, you and your teammate will have to work together to get past this laser field, and turn off two separate computers in the room across from this, if you cannot stop it within the amount of time we give you, you will loose, understood?" He asked and all four of them nodded.

He stepped back and held out a stopwatch. "You have ten minutes-go." He said and the dogs and penguins shot into the laser field.

Now Kowalski and Kia were far better at avoiding lasers than they were at obstacle courses, so they were actually doing really good, especially since Kia was no longer distracted by her thoughts and so could put more focus into the competition.

Chadwick and Clara were also doing good, this time it would be an even Steven competition in every way, or at least so they thought.

Kowalski and Kia made it passed the lasers the exactly time as Chadwick and Clara, and both raced to the computers as soon as they could and instantly got to work, and since hacking was definitely Kia's expertise, the Quinn's were winning.

Clara took notice of how the Quinn's were winning and scowled, she wasn't about to loose to those two! She growled angrily and pushed a button on the computer of hers that connected right over to the penguin computer, making it fizz for a second before what they were trying to stop just got worse.

"Kowalski...what's going on?" Kia asked as she quickly realized what she was doing must be doing the opposite of what they wanted it too.

The tall penguin shrugged in response. "I don't know, did you tamper with it wrongly?" He asked and Kia shook her head.

Right then the Davisons finished theirs and the timer went off.

Porkchops had been napping while they worked on their tasks, but when his stop watch went off, he was started awake and looked shroud before quickly standing up. "The Davisons win." He declared and snorted.

Kowalski and Kia groaned in response and the Davisons grinned.

 **CnC**

Not too long later, it was time for Kowalski, Kia, Hazel, and Koko to make their way back home to New York, since they had lost and wouldn't be working on the project like they thought they would have been.

Kia sighed as she looked at the computer she had been using for the last task, she just didn't get it-why didn't it work? Something must have gone wrong and Kia began to tinker around a little bit, finding something interesting...however before she had time to think on the matter, Clara walked over to her with a smug look on her face.

"Hmm, I thought you were leaving." Clara said as she approached and Kia turned her attention to the dog and nodded as she stopped tinkering with the computer and looked at her.

"I was." She said calmly. Although she had some choice words she would very much like to tell the dog.

Clara looked at her and raised an eye. "Well then scurry along, back to your little freak of a child." She said and made paw gestures for the penguin to leave.

Kia raised an eye at her. "Koko isn't a freak, you just don't like her because she's only two and she is already smarter than you." She stated and gave a sickeningly sweet smile, as Clara glared. "I'm not going to apologize for my daughter, and besides I might have lost today, but at least I didn't need to cheat to know that I'm smart." She said with a smug grin.

Clara seemed confused, or at least she was faking it. "What exactly do you mean Kia?" She asked, her voice icy cold.

Kia shrugged simply. "Nothing, nothing-although I did find an interesting chip in my computer here...I wonder who planted that there." She said sarcastically and showed the dog the little chip and her eyes widened, and just then Kia could hear Kowalski and Hazel calling for her.

"Well I have to go, here's your chip back." Kia said and handed it to Clara. "Goodbye Clara, I hope you have fun working on the project, knowing that the only reason you got it was because you cheated your way to it." She said and waddles off, leaving a dumbfounded dog.

Kia walked over to Kowalski who was standing in front of the jet and he smiled as she approached. "Are you ready to go?" He asked as Kia approached the plane and she smiled.

"Yes, I feel much better about leaving now, because even if we didn't win, I got to spend time with my husband, and it was amazing." Kia said and kissed him gently and right then Kowalski heard Koko calling for him.

"I should go see what she wants." He said and Kia nodded.

"I'll be in in a minute." She said and he nodded before walking in, and that's when Kia gave a devilish smile as she looked back over towards the base. "Spend time with Kowalski and got revenge that is." She said with a grinch like grin as she chuckled a little darkly. "I hope Clara likes the little surprise I left her on that chip I gave her." She said and began to walk into the plane.

Kia chuckled again. "Maybe next time she will know not to cheat...or I'll be more than willing to teach her a lesson again." She said a little darkly and right then a scream could be heard from inside the building, yep Clara had found her little surprise and Kia grinned as she walked into the jet. "Take that mutt."

 **Me: I know this took me forever and a half to get out! I am horrible, such a bad llama! But anyways I hope you liked the chapter.**

 **Kia: I liked the ending.**

 **Me: Course you did, you got revenge.**

 **Kia: I love revenge.**

 **Me: Yeah anyways, I promise to have the next chapter out on Monday, I'll also be getting a 4th of July special about teenage Koko out tomorrow, so there's that to look forward too.**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _Ty smirked. "Canada eh? Well isn't that the most exciting place in the world." She said sarcastically and leaned against the wall, her backpack on the ground next to her by her feet. "What're we fighting again? Chipmunks was it?" She asked and right then the sound of glass shattering went off and everyone turned to look at Nutmeg who had dropped her cup and it shattered on the ground._

 _The squirrel gave a sheepish smile and started to pick up her mess and chuckled a little. "Chipmunks in Canada...yay." She said, sounding anything but pleased._

 **Me: Okay everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And if you really wanna know what Kia's revenge was, just ask in the reviews and I'd be more than obliged to tell you.**

 **Kia: Until next time readers! Bye!**

 **Me: Bye and be sure to review if you would like, but just for the record reviews are my juice, and I can't be juicing up another chapter for you without my juice! So review! For the Juice.**


	9. Operation: Maple Syrup pt 1

**Me: Ugh, I am so so so so sorry for the super long wait! I'm a very bad llama! Anyways! Welcome back readers, boy am I exciting bout this chapter, do you remember how I told you that the whole fluffiness wouldn't last? Well last chapter was the last of the fluff for awhile.**

 **Kia: The readers are going to kill you after this chapter.**

 **Me: Nonsense, now let's get this story cranking! Pull the lever Kia!**

 **Kia: *sighs and pulls lever***

 **Me: Wrong levaaaaaaa! *comes back from alligator pool* Why do we even have that lever?**

 **Kia: I think I'm just gonna start the chapter now.**

 **Me: That is a very good idea, go start the chapter Kia!**

It had been a few days after Science Edge and Cupid, and things were getting back to normal for everyone, the Penguins of course had their missions right around the zoo or the city, and Team Watermelon was left training and waiting for a mission of their own, and they didn't have to wait long.

Kia ran into the main area of the new base they had. "Guys!" She said excitedly and then proceeded to trip on nothing at all and fall flat on her face and Ty snickered as the penguin got back up and sent Ty a glare. "Guys, we have a new mission." She said at last with a smile on her face.

Nika got up from doing some push-ups in the middle of the room and walked over, putting a paw on her hip as she looked at Kia curiously. "Vut ees eet?" She asked and took a glance at the file that Kia was holding.

Kia smiled. "We're off to go fight some chipmunks in Canada." She explained with a grin as she held the file closer to her, looking excited to have a mission, especially one out of the states.

Ty smirked. "Canada eh? Well isn't that the most exciting place in the world." She said sarcastically and leaned against the wall, her backpack on the ground next to her by her feet. "What're we fighting again? Chipmunks was it?" She asked and right then the sound of glass shattering went off and everyone turned to look at Nutmeg who had dropped her cup and it shattered on the ground.

The squirrel gave a sheepish smile and started to pick up her mess and chuckled a little. "Chipmunks in Canada...yay." She said, sounding anything but pleased.

The other three ignored Nutmeg's weird behavior, and Nika turned her head back to Kia. "Vut did theese chipmunks do?" She asked and Ty snickered again.

"Maybe they decided to end their singing career and take up crime instead." She said and Nika and Kia looked at the cat weirdly and she gave a sheepish chuckle. "Yah know, like Alvin and the Chipmunks?" She asked and they looked at her blankly and Ty raised an eye at them. "Where have you two been like your entire lives?"

Kia rolled her eyes. "I know who Alvin and the Chipmunks are Ty, but no we are not fighting three singing chipmunks in Canada, these chipmunks are called Pika, and Boo-they're led by their leader, apparently he's some super evil chipmunk bent on taking over the world called Catfish." She explained.

Nika raised an eye. "Vut veird names." She said and the lemur, penguin, and cat all agreed. "Vhen are ve leaving?" She asked and all three mammals in the room turned back to look at Kia as she flipped through the papers in the file.

"Uhh-tomorrow." She said and Nika nodded.

"Right, let's go pack." She said and the three walked away, leaving only Nutmeg in the room who was completely frozen in terror as she had listened to everything Kia had said, memories of past experiences with these chipmunks flashed before her eyes and she felt dread rush through her. It would seem that her dreaded past finally caught up to her.

 **CnC**

Later that day, Nutmeg had excused herself from the HQ, saying she needed a walk and had instantly headed off towards the park, and right at that moment she was talking to Archer in his tree.

"And so, the one mission I never wanted to be put on again, has come back to me, what am I going to do? My team still thinks I'm the innocent little naive squirrel that left them two years ago, if we go on this mission-they'll find out what happened to me..." Nutmeg trailed off and looked at the drink she had been offered before looking back up at Archer.

The brown squirrel looked at her. "Well, you did want to tell them, right?" Archer asked and leaned back on the branch he was on, and Nutmeg nodded and looked down once again.

"Well yes, I did but...They already think I'm different because I keep the guns on me, I'm supposed to be the little innocent private they found and raised, how can I explain to them that I'm not? At least not anymore." Nutmeg closed her eyes and tried not to let her eyes get watery, this was a touchy subject for the squirrel.

Archer looked at her. "Look, they're going to find out anyways, you keep telling me that this team of yours is understanding, talk to them, tell them what happened a year and a half ago, they'll understand." He said, giving the best advice he could.

Nutmeg sighed and nodded, placing the cup on the bark and standing up. "Yeah I guess I should go talk to them, thanks for letting me voice my concerns to you Archer." She said and gave him a light smile.

Archer smiled back at her. "Well I am your boyfriend, it's kinda my job to listen." He said and Nutmeg nodded before she began to climb down the tree, she would have to come clean about her past, that much was clear, but did she have to come clean right then?

The truth was that Nutmeg had changed, and she feared it wasn't for the better, she wasn't the same cute little squirrel she was two years ago, she had known pain, real actual pain, and she had been responsible for something her team wouldn't have ever believed, Nutmeg herself hardly believed it.

She sighed as she started to head back to the zoo, she knew she had to tell her team what she had done, but not now, if the subject came up she would tell, but she would rather not have her team know, they didn't need to know what she had done, and hopefully they never actually would...

 **CnC**

 _(Flashback time!)_

 _Nutmeg sat down on a chair in the base and started flipping through the file, she glanced up at some of the R.A.D.I.S.H agents. "Okay guys, General Swanson has given us our next mission, there is a chipmunk called Catfish and his associates: Pika, Boo, Hide, Seek and his right hand man: Bone, causing some trouble in Canada." She explained._

 _Benny looked at her. "Well what are we supposed to do about it?" He asked in his usually arrogant way and Nutmeg looked at him and smiled._

 _"Well we stop them of course! Come on it'll be fun! And I don't have to take you with me if I don't want too." Nutmeg added and stood up, tossing the file on the ground and fixing her green acorn like hat on her head, she had been apart of R.A.D.I.S.H for almost six months, and she was still having a hard time fitting it, no matter how hard they tried, they could never replace Team Watermelon._

 _Cody tilted his head. "So, when do we leave?" He asked and Nutmeg looked at him in the eyes._

 _"As soon as we can, I don't want these people causing any trouble." She explained and walked off, probably going to go talk to either General Swanson or her chipmunk friend Wally, who had been sticking around as well._

 _Nutmeg walked towards where the general was and knocked before coming in. "Sir." She said and the general looked at her with a raised eye, wondering what the squirrel was going to say. "Permission to speak freely?" She asked._

 _The general nodded. "Granted."_

 _Nutmeg breathed out in relief. "In all due respect sir, I'm not sure my team is ready for this mission, I read over the files, these chipmunks-no matter how cute their names are, are dangerous, this mission calls for more professionals, a unit much better at dealing with something like this-a team more capable, like-like-" She started to rant and the general stopped her._

 _"Like Team Watermelon?" He asked and Nutmeg stopped mid sentence and looked at him, of course that had been exactly what she had been thinking, but she wasn't actually going to say it, however the look on her face gave it away and the General sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking rather tired about everything._

 _"Major Watermelon, we talked about this-you joined R.A.D.I.S.H, you left Team Watermelon, that team split apart and they are never coming back, so stop comparing everyone to your perfect vision for a team and get out there and do your duty." He ordered and Nutmeg sighed._

 _"Fine, but I still think this isn't the right team for the job, we could mess up." Nutmeg stated before starting to walk out, however the General stopped her._

 _"The only reason they would fail or mess up Watermelon, is because of you, not them." He spat._

 _(Flashback end)_

 **CnC**

Soon came the day for Team Watermelon to leave for Canada, they had said their goodbyes and were currently flying in the Melon over Niagara Falls.

Kia put the jet on auto pilot and waddled into the main room with the others, Ty was listening to some music with her headphones, Nutmeg was looking out the window with a worried expression on her face, and Nika was going through a box of hats.

"Vut ees a Canadian hat?" Nika asked, looking up from the box and looking at Kia, who sighed a little-course they needed new hats, when did they not?

Kia shrugged. "Got any Canadian beaver fur hats in there?" She asked and after the lemur thought for a minute, she grinned as her face lit up and nodded as she dug into the box, however a minute or two later she stuck her head back out of the box with a disappointed look on her face.

"I left them back at vee base." Nika explained and huffed and Kia shrugged.

"Maybe it's for the best-we can just wear our typical pink berets for a change." She suggested and Nika reluctantly agreed. Kia then glanced over at Nutmeg, taking into account her peculiar behavior. "Nutmeg, are you feeling alright?" She asked, dragging the squirrel's attention back over to the penguin.

Nutmeg turned and looked at Kia, she seemed confused for a moment before nodded. "Oh yes-I'm fine, just eager to get back to the states." She explained and Kia raised an eye at her but didn't say anything.

Nika seemed to have gotten over her disappointment with the hats. "By vee vay, I have come up vith name for meesion!" She said sounding excited and Ty, who had just taken off her headphones, gave the lemur a curious look.

"Oh and what's that Nika?" Ty asked and Nika smiled brightly.

"Operation Maple Syrup." Nika responded and Ty rolled her eyes at the lemur.

"Why does it always have to be named after food? Why not clothing, or places, or something disgusting like Kia's weird obsession with spiders-"

Kia glared. "Hey! Spiders are very interesting if you just gave them the chance!" She said defensively and Ty looked at her and rolled her eyes again before continuing.

"Yeah I doubt it, anyways-Nika, why does it always have to be named after food? In fact it isn't just missions either, you name everything after food-the plane, the missions, the team name, heck even Nutmeg's named after food, and we named her!" The cat said and Kia nodded curiously.

"Yes why do we name everything after food?" She asked and the cat and penguin turned to look at Nika.

The lemur shrugged. "Can't I just have vone hobby vithout you thinking eet ees veird?" She asked and right then Nutmeg called them over as she swerved her head towards the trio.

"Guys, we're approaching our destination." Nutmeg said and Kia hurriedly made her way back to the pilot's seat and everyone got ready for a landing.

Ty smirked. "I can't wait to get this over with-we've been needing a good mission, don't you think Nutmeg?" She asked and glanced over at Nutmeg.

Nutmeg chuckled a bit, although her laugh was fake. "Yeah..." She trailed off and looked out the window as they began to land, dreading this entire mission, and just hoping that her team wouldn't find out about what had happened last time she had gone on this mission, it was something she had buried deep in her memory- now it was coming back.

 **CnC**

 _(Flashy backy number two time)_

 _Once Nutmeg and her squirrel team had made it to the location that the evil chipmunks were said to be in, they had instantly started looking around._

 _Nutmeg walked around the freezing snowy tundra, pressing her furry coat closer to her body, she was not a fan of the cold weather, and Canada seemed to be full of it. She sighed and looked around until she heard a noise behind her and turned around, tilting her head. "Hello?" She asked innocently, wondering who was out there._

 _Out of the shadows came a small, extremely adorable looking chipmunk who's large brown eyes only helped his adorable look. He smiled, and one would not be able to tell that the smile was anything but evil. "Hello." The chipmunk said._

 _Nutmeg smiled, maybe this little fella new about these mean chipmunks. "Hello, who're you?" She asked as she walked closer to the chipmunk, who only grinned again._

 _"Catfish." He responded and Nutmeg's eyes widened in realization, this was the evil little genius she was supposed to stop? And right then as she took a step closer, she stepped right into a trap and went up in a net. "And you must be Major Nutmeg, the squirrel agent sent to stop me." He said and glared. "Well then, I should let you know that you will fail." He said darkly and glared right at her._

 _Nutmeg glared back. "You should know by now Catfish that an agent always has a way to escape." She said and pulled out a heat Ray out of her coat and melted the ropes before falling to the ground, landing in a defensive position. "I should also let you know that I didn't come alone." She said as her team began to approach and Catfish grinned._

 _"Well then, it's a good thing neither did I!" He said as a whole bunch of chipmunks began to emerge from the shadows behind him, until they almost surrounded the team of squirrels. "Agents of R.A.D.I.S.H, meet: Pika, Boo, Hide, Seek, and Bone." He introduced._

 _Nutmeg did a quick head count, it was six against six, they could take them. "Evil chipmunk villains, meet: Archer, Benny, Cody, Miranda, and Arnold." She introduced her own team. "You're reign of terror is over Catfish, we're bringing you in." She stated._

 _Catfish smirked. "We'll see about that." He said and they charged._

 _(Flashy backy endy)_

 **CnC**

Nutmeg sighed and looked away from the window, this mission would not be a fun one, that much she knew-but she could no longer hide everything she had done from her team, from her friends. She sighed and stood up, her squirrel tail sticking out as she walked over to where the others were, they had already gotten to the location they were supposed to be at, and would be leaving soon.

"Nika, Kia, Ty-b-before we go out there, I need to tell you something." Nutmeg said feeling dread wash over her as the lemur, penguin, and cat looked over at her and Ty raised an eye.

"What?" The cat asked and Nutmeg gulped.

The squirrel seemed more nervous and hesitant with every passing second. "There are people out there-some of which we are about to go fight, that want me dead." She explained and they looked at her in shock.

Nika looked over at Nutmeg. "Vho would vant you dead Nutmeg? You are most innocent squirrel I have ever met." She told her and Nutmeg looked down as Kia spoke next.

"I think the question we should be asking here is why, Nutmeg-why would anyone want you dead?" The penguin asked and it was silent as the three other teammates looked at her waiting for an answer and finally Nutmeg replied.

"Because I have done a horrible thing, something that can never be forgiven, no matter what I do or say." Nutmeg said and her eyes begun to get watery. "I did something so horrible, even I will never be able to forgive myself." She said, close to tears and the team could easily tell this was hard for her.

Nika looked at Nutmeg with a concerned expression on her face. "Nutmeg, vut exactly did you do?" She asked with a worried expression as she moved closer to the squirrel, and right as she was about to answer there was a loud noise coming from outside.

"Hey Watermelon, it's time to go." Said a voice and Ty hissed in their direction.

"We'll be out in a few minutes!" The cat hissed however Nutmeg was already heading outside, she looked at them all.

"I'll tell you later, right now we have other things to worry about." Nutmeg explained and opened the door outside as the others followed her from behind, still unsure what to think of everything that was going on.

The foursome soon got the information they needed and soon found themselves standing in front of a long abandoned facility, and Nutmeg was still not sure how she felt about everything as they approached.

Kia quickly folded the map and tossed it to Ty, who stuffed it in her backpack. "Well here we are-the chipmunks are said to be at this location." She explained and right then there could be heard a slow clapping coming from the facility as an adorable chipmunk walked out.

"Well it looks like we have been found, and if it isn't Nutmeg-just the little rat I wanted to see." Said the chipmunk and Nutmeg glared, instantly grabbing hold of her guns that were on the holsters around her waist.

"Catfish." She said in a surprisingly dark voice especially for Nutmeg as she glared at the chipmunk.

Catfish looked at her before glancing at the three animals with her. "I see you have brought a new team this time, lucky for me-I'm still not outmatched." He said and snapped his fingers as three other chipmunks came out. "Just like last time, isn't it Nutmeg? However the only difference is, that this time-I don't plan on loosing." He said darkly before signaling for his chipmunks to charge, and they did as the fight began.

 **CnC**

 _(Flashback time!)_

 _It was a flurry of fur, claw, and teeth-these chipmunks fought worse than Nutmeg had thought, they were ruthless and played dirty, she had just barely gotten away from fighting off Bone, the huge chipmunk who looked as big as a cat in Nutmeg's opinion, she couldn't even see her team anymore, they were somewhere in the pile of fur that lay in front of her._

 _She was really just getting a breather when Catfish came up from behind her and kicked her down, and as soon as Nutmeg got back up, he attacked again-she had been going on and off fighting Catfish this entire battle, he just kept coming after her, although it was probably because he knew that she was the leader, and when you took down the leader...their followers crumbled._

 _Which was why Nutmeg had also gone after him, she knew taking down the leader meant winning really, and this had already been their fifth tussle this battle. Nutmeg glared at him and rolled out of the way before he could attack her, and quickly threw a punch at him, hitting him in the nose._

 _Catfish backed up before glaring at her and scratched her cheek, and Nutmeg retaliated by kicking him in the stomach, she knew how to fight but as seen just recently, so did Catfish._

 _The fight continued on for a bit and as it continued Catfish noticed how his team was loosing and growled in frustration before harshly shoving Nutmeg away. "Chipmunks! Retreat!" He yelled and instantly all the chipmunks started making a run for it and Catfish glared at Nutmeg one more time. "This isn't over squirrel, we will be back-and trust me, it will not be pretty." He warned her before following after his own team, disappearing into the snowy regions of Canada._

 _Archer got ready to go after them, but Nutmeg signaled him to stay where he was. "It's not worth it, we need to get back to the base and tend to these wounds, it's like Catfish said-they'll be back." She explained as she watched the last of their furry chipmunk tails disappear as a snowfall started._

 _Miranda had gotten hurt pretty bad by the looks of it, poor girl had fought Bone more than the rest of them, however she managed to limp over and join them. "We need to get back, this storm is going to get crazy really soon, and we don't have the equipment to withstand it." She explained and Nutmeg nodded._

 _"Alright everyone, let's head back." She said and the others nodded as they started making their way back to the base, however Nutmeg glanced back one more time, she had a feeling that she would see Catfish again' real soon._

 _(Flashback end!)_

 **CnC**

Nutmeg found herself fighting Bone, who was certainly a much bigger chipmunk than she was a squirrel, he was huge! Nutmeg still thought he looked like a giant ugly cat. She quickly dodged out of the way as the huge chipmunk slammed his fists onto the ground where she had stood just moments ago.

She took a deep breath and looked around at the battle field, Nika was fighting off Pika, and was clearly winning as the chipmunk struggled to fight the more experienced lemur. Kia seemed to be fighting off Boo very well too-really these chipmunks were no match for their team. Nutmeg then spotted Ty, who had taken on the job of fighting the huge chipmunk: Bone, and she was of course winning.

That left Catfish...where was that chipmunk? Almost as soon as she thought that, Catfish came at Nutmeg from behind, making them both tumble down and roll into a snow pile away from the rest of the battle.

Nutmeg quickly got up and glared at the leading chipmunk but didn't say anything as her opponent had already beat her to it.

"Well Nutmeg, it looks like we meet again-when was the last time we had fought? Oh right I remember it was tight before-" Catfish started to say but was promptly cut off by Nutmeg.

"Don't say it, please-I know what I did, and I know I can never make up for it." She said remorse clear in her voice and Catfish only glared at her.

He growled over at her. "Oh but you didn't just hurt me and my own team-no you hurt so many more, and then came the threats, you even had to start bringing guns with you wherever you went as a form of protection against all those you angered. I see you still do-why is that? Out of habit? Or do you still fear you will get what's coming for you?" He asked her with a snide remark.

Nutmeg looked at him, pain visible in her eyes however she was unable to answer, how could she when everything he said was true? She closed her eyes and tilted her head down, silence filling the area around them before she opened her eyes and looked over at Catfish. "I made a mistake." She finally managed to get out and Catfish glared.

"A mistake? No Nutmeg, a mistake is when you accidentally color outside the lines, what you did was far worse." He said and glared. "And now, it's up to me to make sure you get exactly what you deserve." Catfish sneered before leaping at her and tackling her to the ground.

Nutmeg almost didn't want to fight back, knowing what he said was true, but she knew she had to fight-for her team, and to prove that she was willing to make up for her mistakes, and so with that she kicked him hard in the stomach, sending Catfish flying back into the group of fighting animals.

Catfish groaned softly and looked around, his distraction was clearly working-they wouldn't assume a thing and soon he found himself grinning evilly-his plan was afoot, and Team Watermelon was completely clueless, finally now he would get his revenge for what R.A.D.I.S.H did to him, and even more important: he would get his revenge on what Nutmeg did to him.

 **CnC**

 _(Yes...another flashback, go read)_

 _Just as Nutmeg had suspected, they did hear from Catfish and his cronies again, and it was much sooner than Nutmeg would have thought._

 _Only a few days after their little endeavor with the chipmunks, R.A.D.I.S.H had received a call, Nutmeg and her team were still stationed in the base in Canada when it happened._

 _BEEEP, BEEEP, BEEEP!_

 _Nutmeg looked up from the picture book she was looking at as a loud alarm went off and confusion appeared in her dark green eyes as she closed the book and moved her feet off the couch and onto the hard wooden ground. "Miranda-What's going on?" She asked with a tilt of her head as she approached the other girl on the team._

 _Miranda shrugged however she had a look of concern on her face. "I don't know Ma'am, the alarm just went off." She explained and Nutmeg resisted the urge to give an almost snarky comment back about how she knew that-as it turned out, without Nika, Kia, and Ty-Nutmeg found herself thinking of things they would say in situations like this._

 _Right then Archer zoomed passed them, stopping right by Nutmeg. "Watermelon-We're receiving an unknown call-could be Catfish, we need you up top." He explained quickly and Nutmeg nodded as she headed up top with Archer._

 _When they got there, the screen they had was turned on with a familiar chipmunk on it, Archer had predicted correctly, it was Catfish and instantly Nutmeg glared._

 _"Greetings radishes, I just wanted to tell you, that I the greatest mastermind of all-would like to inform you that I have a plan to get my revenge." Catfish stated as he glared at all the squirrels and Nutmeg walked over to the screen._

 _"What is it Catfish?" She asked hastily and the chipmunk only grinned before he moved the camera he had to show a refuge R.A.D.I.S.H had set up for anyone in need of a safe-house, in that refuge there were animals of all kind-civilians, children and agents of R.A. .H alike._

 _Catfish nodded at the building before turning the camera back to him. "Nice refuge-looks very safe and sound, very cozy." He said before grinning evilly. "Hide, and Seek have placed a special type of bomb somewhere in this building." He explained and everyone's eyes widened._

 _Nutmeg looked at him suspiciously, taking another step closer to the screen. "What kind of bomb?" She asked and Catfish practically beamed at the chance to explain his explosive._

 _"The kind that when it goes off, it sends a chemical into the air that can intoxicate any living thing with a horrible disease and unless you have the cure-" he paused to show them a small vile of green liquid. "You die within twenty four hours of being contaminated, and if it isn't stopped-it puts the entire world in danger." He explained._

 _Nutmeg gasped. "That's a little drastic don't you thing?" She asked and the chipmunk shook his head._

 _"Not for me-see all my agents have already taken the cure, and this little vile is the last of it." Catfish explained and opened the vile up-drinking it and once he finished he looked at the screen. "Now unless you can find and stop the bomb from going off within the next thirty minutes...well let's just say the world is gonna get a lot more apocalyptic." Catfish explained maliciously before the screen went back._

 _Nutmeg turned to Archer. "Send a team over to the refuge-we need to defuse that bomb, and now." She snapped and Archer nodded and ran off, and soon agents were running all over the place until it was just her. "Oh Nutmeg-what will you do if they can't defuse the bomb in time?"_

 _(Flashback end)_

 **CnC**

Nutmeg glanced around, Team Watermelon had the chipmunks taken down, they knew they had lost and seemed to have given up trying to beat the more experienced team. She sighed and made her way over to Catfish, who looked like he might have been crying in the middle of the snow pile.

"Give it up Catfish, you've lost." She stated before noticing what looked to be the chipmunk crying and she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Catfish are you alright?" She asked timidly as she took a step closer to the chipmunk.

However it was then that the squirrel noticed that he had not been crying-but laughing.

Catfish cackled. "You really think I've lost?" He asked and Ty-who had just walked over nodded her head as she folded her arms.

"Well yeah-you lost dude."

Catfish only grinned. "No, no, no-kitty cat, I've only just begun, I have so many more plans-did you really think I was so stupid as to send all my agents into a battle with a team which is clearly more qualified to deal with my team? No, I'm not an idiot!" He yelled and Ty huffed.

"Coulda had me fooled."

He glared at her and Kia nudged the cat and shook her head disapprovingly. "You see, I figured your little team would beat me-so I settled for the next best thing." Catfish paused to look over at Nutmeg, who already had a look of horror on her face. "I am finally getting my revenge on R.A.D.I.S.H."

Nutmeg's eyes widened in realization. "He's going to blow up the base." She said, her voice quiet and at first it looked like her team had not actually heard her. "He's gonna blow the base up! We have to get back!" She yelled suddenly.

Nika nodded. "Da, but vut about Catvish and his chipmunks?" The lemur asked with a tilt of her head as she scowled over at the chipmunks, who still hadn't bothered getting up after getting beat.

Nutmeg paused as she thought about it for a minute before a determined look appeared on her face. "You three stay here with them, I'll go get everyone out of the base and defuse the bomb." She said and had already started walking away when Kia stopped here.

"Woah there Nutmeg! We can't just let you go out there alone, we're a team, and teams stick together." The penguin told her with a warm yet determined look on her face.

Nutmeg sighed and shook her head. "No Kia, you don't understand-I have to do this, I can't let anyone else pay for my mistakes ever again, last time something like this happened-I messed up, and a lot of people got hurt. I will not have anymore innocent blood on my paws." She said and Nika raised an eye.

"Nutmeg, vut exactly did you do?" Nika asked warily, as if she wasn't too sure she even wanted to know the answer, and by the look on Nutmeg's face...she decided maybe she didn't.

The squirrel breathed out. "Something terrible." She explained and her eyes began to get teary again.

Ty put her paws on the squirrel's shoulders, making her look up at the cat. "Nutmeg...tell us what you did...please-we need to know." She explained softly.

Nutmeg seemed hesitant before she nodded, knowing it would be better to tell them what exactly she did instead of holding it back as she had done for so long. "I'm no longer that innocently naive squirrel I was two years ago, I've changed and not for the better-I've grown colder, harsher, and I became something so horrible, that I became worse than the villains I was facing, and it all started when I had to make a decision-one that would determine the fates of many innocent lives." She started to explain.

Kia looked at her. "What did you choose?" She asked and Nutmeg looked at her coldly

"The wrong answer."

 **CnC**

 _(Flashback time.)_

 _Nutmeg paced back and forth, their time was running out-as far as she knew they hadn't even reached the refuge yet, and the bomb would go off any minute, Nutmeg was a nervous wreck. "Oh why didn't I go with them?" She asked out loud._

 _"Trouble Major Watermelon?" Asked a voice from behind and she turned around to see Cody, the squirrel who was actually part of her team, he had been hurt badly in the fight before, which was why he had to stay here._

 _Nutmeg looked at him. "Well kinda yeah-I don't know what to do about this Catfish situation." She explained looking distressed, didn't Cody know what was going on?_

 _Cody nodded. "It is a bit of a troubling situation, but right now you are the highest ranking officer at the base, and it's your job to make a decision." He explained and glanced over at the clock in the area. "And I'd say your time to decide is running out." He explained before he began to walk out._

 _Nutmeg breathed out. "Well what would you do?" She asked sharply and Cody briefly turned around, something in his eyes that Nutmeg couldn't quite place._

 _"I'm sure I don't know-but if you were to blow up the refuge before the bomb could go off...well then everyone would be saved." He said before walking out, his words lingering in the room as Nutmeg thought about it._

 _She swerved her head towards the small little red self destruct button for the refuge, just in case they ever needed it. "Blow up the refuge? I couldn't do that, not with all the civilians in there..." She murmured however she found herself walking up to the small button._

 _"But what about the world? If they don't defuse it in time...the whole world would be at risk." Nutmeg contemplated what the rest of her team would do-Nika would definitely not press it, she would destroy the bomb before anything could explode. Kia wouldn't press it either, she would make a cure for everyone herself. Ty-well she wasn't sure what Ty would do._

 _The minutes passed on, and Nutmeg kept glancing up at the clock, only a minute left...she still had yet to decide what to do, however the clock was ticking...she was a leader, she had to make a decision._

 _Thirty seconds left._

 _Nutmeg started to panic, she hadn't heard anything from the team she had sent out, and they promised to inform her of any change in the mission, and would check in the second they defused the bomb._

 _Fifteen seconds left._

 _She was starting to get even more nervous, this would be the first major decision she made, and if she didn't decide soon, the entire world would be in danger._

 _Ten seconds left._

 _Nutmeg looked at the screen at the refuge, willing them to contact her-saying that everything was alright._

 _Five._

 _She glanced down at the button before looking back up at the refuge._

 _Three._

 _Nutmeg started to lower her paw towards the little red button._

 _Two._

 _It was either one small refuge, or the entire world-she had to decide._

 _One._

 _Nutmeg pressed the button and the refuge exploded._

 _She quickly lifted her paw back up from the button, a wave of guilt washed over her, she had just condemned innocent lives to their deaths...but it was for the better, right? The entire world would have been at risk if she hadn't done it, she had made the right choice...right?_

 _Right then Archer came running in with a smile on his face. "Watermelon, we did it-the team just called in, they defused the bomb two seconds before it would have detonated, we did it-Nutmeg?" He asked as Nutmeg's eyes went wide and she felt nauseous as the room started spinning, she could hardly hear Archer anymore._

 _They had defused the bomb, and she had blown up the refuge...she had condemned not only soldiers and villains, but civilians...families, people who thought they would have a safe haven, and she had killed them-she had killed every single person in the refuge._

 _Archer looked at her, clearly concerned until he looked passed the squirrel up to the screen where it showed the now blown up refuge and his eyes went wide as he looked back over at Nutmeg, a look of horror on his face._

 _"Nutmeg, what did you do?" He asked._

 _(End flashback.)_

 **CnC**

Nutmeg finished telling her tale, tears now streaming down her face. "I killed everyone in that refuge...Hide, Seek, those agents, and all those civilians in that refuge, children even-all those people had just wanted someplace to be safe...and I killed them!" She said trying to contain the pain she felt, yet failing miserably.

Nika, Kia, and Ty stood there in shock, unable to process what Nutmeg was saying.

"And that's why...I have to do this alone, I have to get everyone out-I can never let innocent lives die because of me again." Nutmeg explained wiping the tears away. "Don't worry, this time-things will be different." She said determinedly before she ran off, heading towards the base.

Nika, Kia, and Ty were still frozen, they still just couldn't believe that their sweet little Nutmeg could be capable of something like that, however as soon as Nutmeg ran off, they all snapped out of it.

"No Nutmeg wait!" Kia yelled but it was too late and the squirrel was gone, the snow covering her from view as snow dropped from the sky.

"We have to go after her! We can't let Nutmeg do this alone!" Ty yelled.

Nika nodded. "Ve go." She agreed and the three animals hurried towards the base of R.A.D.I.S.H, chasing after the little squirrel, completely forgetting about Catfish and his cronies who had now been given the perfect time to escape.

 **CnC**

Team Watermelon made it to the base, and saw that most of the squirrel agents were already out, and Nika turned to the last squirrel agent that made it through those doors and ran up to him. "Ees everyone out?" She asked worriedly.

The squirrel nodded. "Major Watermelon got everyone out." He explained meekly and Ty looked at him.

"Where is she?" The cat asked in an almost pleading way, deep concern on all of Team Watermelon's faces.

The squirrel coughed. "She's still in there...she wanted to defuse the bomb." He explained and their eyes widened.

Kia started to head in. "We have to go help her." She stated and the other two quickly agreed, however before they could even begin to get close enough to the base to enter, they got held back by some squirrel agents.

Ty hissed at them. "Hey let us go, we have to help our friend!" She yelled and General Swanson shook his head.

"No, we can't risk anyone else going in there." He explained and the three of them glared.

"But Nutmeg ees still een there!" Nika snapped angrily and the general of R.A.D.I.S.H simply looked at her with a cold expression on his face.

"Well then let's hope she makes it out in time."

Everyone turned back to look at the base, they were all far enough away that it wouldn't hurt them, but Nutmeg was still in there, and there was no way anyone would let the rest of the team go back in there.

They watched with anticipation, hoping Nutmeg got out in time.

Ty growled. "Okay that's it, I don't care how close that thing is to exploding, I'm going in after my friend-we're a team...sisters, and we never leave one of our own." She hissed and pushed the squirrel agents away and Nika and Kia quickly followed her actions.

All three took a few steps towards the base, and then...it exploded and their eyes went wide as a scream echoed among the team as they yelled out in terror, complete horror of what they had just witnessed as the base exploded, sending fire sparks into the air, one word echoing out among any other as the three screamed out for their teammate, after all-no one could survive and explosion of that magnitude. The three stood in shock before letting out a simultaneous yell:

"NUTMEG!"

 **Me: Sorry it took so long...please don't kill me.**

 **Next Time on SnW:**

 _Kia held back tears that she knew were bound to come anyways, it had been a few days since...since the explosion, and there was absolutely no sign of Catfish or his cronies, they had escaped, but what was worse was what there was no sign of Nutmeg._

 _"Kia." Nika said as she walked over to join her friend, an almost frozen look on her face, she looked about ready to give up on everything, and truth to be told-Kia felt the same. "Vey are sending another search party, Ty and I are going-you should come." Nika said gently, all three of them had taken it very differently._

 **Me: alright bye guys, once again please don't hate me.**

 **Kia: Bye CnCuddlers, please remember to review, next chapter out soon...well you know, most likely.**


	10. Operation: Maple Syrup pt 2

**Me: Welcome back CnCuddlers, first off I apologize for the really long wait. That was bad of me. Also just a fair warning: this chapter is dark, we will not only be diving into a horrible time for Nutmeg, but also a very dark Team Watermelon; you have been warned. You will probably have a love hate relationship with this chapter...and well, I might still not be very well liked after this chapter.**

 **Kia: You aren't going to be very well liked for a long time Misty, trust me-the hate is only gonna get worse for you the farther into the story you go.**

 **Me: Okay, true-but come on people! Torturing the characters you love most is part of the job description! I plan on bringing every single character down to his or her knees, I will break everyone!**

 **Kia: And be hated by all your readers.**

 **Me: Maybe I can make up for it with funny author notes?**

 **Kia: Hmmm, I don't think so.**

 **Me: *sigh* you're right, start the chapter Kia.**

 **Kia: Starting chapter...**

 **Me: Wait! Not yet, I have to fill them all in on a hilarious thing that happened to me recently.**

 **Kia: Alright but make it quick, we have a schedule to keep.**

 **Me: Riiight, sure we do. Anyways so lately my sister had been in this crazy cooking craze and has been cooking like every day. (More dishes for me, yay! *sigh*) Anyways recently she made sugar cookies, and was using a cookie cutter on them, and when I asked her what cookie cutter she was using she told me "the fish, it looks like we're having fish cookies today." She said fish cookies guys! And I just...I may or may not have laughed super loud and she gave me a really weird look because she just didn't understand! Fish cookies guys! Okay, I'm done-Now you may start the chapter Kia.**

 **Kia: This is a very very long authors note...**

 **Me: Yes, yes it is. Alright, start the chapter.**

 _(Start the flashback.)_

 _"How could you?"_

 _"My son and his family lived there!"_

 _"You say you're here to protect us, but all you did was destroy!"_

 _"You monster!"_

 _No matter how hard they wanted to keep it under raps, word on exactly what Nutmeg did got around...and soon, everyone who had anyone in the Refuge knew who she was, and what she did._

 _Nutmeg buried her head into her paws as she sat in her room, cowering from the outside world, they still had yet to leave Canada, in fact more likely than not they would be staying there for a few more days. It was a few days after the refuge blew up, and needless to say, people knew what happened._

 _And they were not happy._

 _Nutmeg might have been able to keep her job, but that didn't quell the pain she felt inside her, she had killed hundreds of innocent lives...because she couldn't find out a different way to save the world, because she was weak and because no matter how hard she tried to believe any member of her team would have done the same thing if put in her situation, she still knew that they wouldn't._

 _She knew that no matter how hard she wanted it...she would never be like Nika, or Kia, or Ty...they would all have found a different solution, they would not have taken any lives...no matter what the risk. Nutmeg was nothing like her team._

 _If Team Watermelon ever found out about this, surely they would feel differently about her, they wouldn't think of her as the innocent naive squirrel that she once was...they would hate her-just like the rest of the world._

 _Nutmeg stood up, her thoughts becoming to much for her to take and she shakily made her way over to the window, opening it up as a gust of wind blew in, she needed some fresh air. The squirrel breathed in the smell of the crisp yet cold Canadian air, trying not to let her thoughts wander anymore, however she knew they would...they always did._

 _Right then there was a knock on her door before someone entered and she turned around quickly. "Nutmeg?"_

 _(End flashback.)_

 **CnC**

Ty knew she was crying in front of everyone else, and she usually liked to consider herself the tough one, Ty didn't cry it was just how things worked. However standing there watching as smoke flouting into the air minutes after the explosion she knew she couldn't stop it, she could no longer keep the tears to herself and closed her eyes as hot tears fell down her face, Nika and Kia were doing no better beside her.

Nutmeg was in there, she was in there! And it just exploded! Ty didn't know what else to do and so she let the tears fall, not caring that everyone else could see that she-the strong one, the firm foundation for her team, the one that never breaks down-was crying, it was all she could do, Nutmeg had been her best friend, the younger sister that Ty had never had, and now...now she was gone...

What happened next came in a haze, Ty remembered being dragged away but it didn't feel real, it was as if she was living in some nightmare, she hardly could comprehend the people comforting her and checking her for injuries, and the next few hours went by in a blur, she just...she didn't know what to do, what could she do?

Now Nika was not doing much better, she was aware of what was going on yes, but did that mean she acted any better? No. She lashed out in anger, yelling at anyone that came to close to her, she blamed R.A.D.I.S.H, she blamed Catfish, she blamed the squirrel agents that held her back, but above all else...she blamed herself, she was the leader of the team, the one that was there to make sure everyone was always okay, the one to take charge when she needed too, the role model for the others...yet another one of her teammates met their fates in an explosion, how was she supposed to lead anyone, when it felt like she was leading them to their deaths?

As for the last member of the team...Kia stood in complete shock, it was as if something snapped inside her and she shut her emotions down, someone needed to be the strong one right then, someone had to be the logical thinker-the one who took action.

"Agent Pl-Quinn, we need to get back to the base...we can come back tomorrow to search through the rubble," An agent said timidly. She had originally approached Nika but that was not a good idea at the moment.

Kia turned her head to look at the squirrel agent and nodded. "Right, grab Ty and Nika, we'll head back to the safehouse not far from here, the snowstorm should take care of any fire remnants," She stated in a monotone voice. She showed no emotion what so ever, because that's what she was supposed to do.

Kia was the scientist, the thinker, the problem solver, the brains of the operation-the one that thought things through when no one else could. She wasn't allowed to cry or lash out, she had to be logical, she had to be the one to represent her team, and to do that she had to shut off her emotions and become a machine, wiping those tears away, pushing that anger back, and moving on...even if Nutmeg had survived that explosion, which she knew no one could, she still couldn't jump into finding her-nor could she mourn, and she knew that. It was because Kia knew that- that she shut off her emotions.

None of the team had ever wondered what would happened if they lost just one of their teammates, no matter who they lost it would be devastating, but perhaps loosing Nutmeg was the most devastating of all...after all, a team can keep going without the leader, even if it's a messy continuation. A team can keep going without the rational thinker, even if they choose their next steps foolishly. A team can keep going without the firm foundation, even if it goes on with wobbly legs. However, can a team keep going, can a team keep moving forward if there is no glue to hold them together? Or would they fall apart, with nothing there to stick them together, what's left to make sure they keep going?

 **CnC**

 _(Flash back number duos)_

 _Nutmeg swerved her head around to see Archer standing in the doorway. He had a solemn look on his face but also seemed to try and appear optimistic. Nutmeg sighed and closed the window before walking over to him. "Yes?" She asked, looking right up at the brown squirrel, almost wondering if she really wanted to know what he was going to say._

 _Archer looked at her and gave a soft, weak smile. "You haven't left your room since...for days," he said-picking his words carefully. "I thought it would be a good idea for you to get some fresh air, would you like to go on a walk with me?" He asked sheepishly._

 _Nutmeg was actually a bit surprised, she had suspected something awful really. This was almost a nice surprise. "Um, I don't know Archer-I don't think people like me too much outside," she explained. Her gaze quickly left the other squirrel and found its way down to her feet._

 _"Please, the team is worried about you-I'm worried about you! Just a short walk, okay?" Archer pleaded, reaching out to grab hold of her paws and cup them in his own. He moved one hand free to lift up her chin so she was looking right at him again. "You can't stay cooped up like this," he explained._

 _Nutmeg sighed. "Fine, but I don't think I'm ready to face everyone right now," she explained weakly. To be frank, Nutmeg wasn't sure she would ever be ready to face the world again, not after what she did. But Archer was still trying to help her. The least Nutmeg could do was let him._

 _Archer gave another small smile. "Don't worry, I won't make you face the world just yet-all I'm asking for is a small walk outside," he explained. Nutmeg reluctantly agreed and Archer led her out of the stuffy room. "Thank you," he told her._

 _Nutmeg remained silent as they walked out of the base, trying to ignore the looks people were giving her. Wether it be the looks of fear, hatred, disgust, or even a few death glares. Although she couldn't seem to ignore the whispers and the murmurs. It was awful._

 _Didn't these people understand that no one felt worse about this than Nutmeg?_

 _Finally Archer and Nutmeg had made it outside, and the squirrel major finally felt like she could breathe again. There weren't near as many people outside in the cool Canadian forest as there had been inside._

 _Archer glanced over at Nutmeg and smiled. "See, isn't this much nicer than being stuck in that room of yours?" He asked; trying to lighten the mood although it didn't seem to be working._

 _It was silent as the two walked before Archer exhaled. "Nutmeg-I want you to know that I don't blame you for what you did. And in time neither will anyone else-" Archer stopped mid sentence and his eyes went wide. "Nutmeg look out!" He hollered as he spotted something from behind._

 _(Flashback end)_

 **CnC**

Nika felt angry, and she made sure to let everyone now that. It was the morning after...well, after the base exploded and Nika refused to work with R.A.D.I.S.H, she still full heartedly blamed them for what happened to her private. And as far as she was concerned; every single one of those stupid squirrels could go to-

"Nika."

The lemur turned to give her signature death glare at whoever had entered, only to find out that it was Kia. Who had temporarily 'taken charge' since she didn't find Nika to be able. "Vut?" Nika asked darkly, she was still mad. Even if she was talking to her teammate. Kia wasn't the one in handcuffs!

Yeah that could use a bit more of an explanation-lets just say that Nika was not the most corporative with R.A.D.I.S.H and it had ended with a few minor injuries, and the Russian lemur handcuffed.

Kia didn't seem fazed by her leader's sharp tone. "A R.A.D.I.S.H agent found Catfish, they're sending a patrol to take care of him. I'm going, I was wondering if you wanted to come as well," she explained emotionlessly.

Nika paused as she thought it over before a rather evil grin appeared on her face, it would have been unsettling to Kia if she was allowing herself to feel. "A chance to take down vee person vho did vat too Nutmeg? I vould not miss eet for anyting."

Kia nodded. "Then get up, we're leaving in five minutes," she stated before waddling out to go find Ty. She was sure that the black and white cat would want to come as well.

Soon the chosen patrol was ready, there were at least three squirrels with the remaining Members of Team Watermelon. One gray, and two brown.

Nika turned to glare at the gray squirrel; lifting her still cuffed hands up. "Take thees off," she ordered quickly. Her voice cold and commanding.

The gray squirrel agent looked right up at the scary lemur. "Only if you promise to behave," he stated sternly and Nika glared but reluctantly agreed. The squirrel nodded in approval before he took the handcuffs off the Russian lemur.

Nika tested out her wrists and fists to make sure everything felt alright before smirking. "Now, let's go find Catfish," she said in a surprisingly dark voice that also seemed a bit to pleased about it before she headed out with the rest of the patrol following after her.

The gray squirrel lingered back with the other two R.A.D.I.S.H agents as they watched the way too eager Team Watermelon head out in search of the evil chipmunk. He turned to look at the two brown squirrels. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Something tells me we shouldn't have let them come with us."

 **CnC**

 _(Flashback C)_

 _Nutmeg's reflexes kicked in as she ducked just in time-sharply avoiding the tray that had been thrown at her and hit the tree behind her instead. Instantly she looked to see who the culprit was and spotted one very angry looking squirrel._

 _Archer instantly took a step in front of Nutmeg protectively. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" He asked sharply; glaring at the other squirrel._

 _The squirrel was a dark ginger color and was older, as well as slightly bigger and boy did she look angry. "What am I doing? No! What is that MURDERER doing here? I came out here to eat my lunch when I spotted her!" The squirrel hollered and turned to glare at Nutmeg again. "How can you even stand yourself? How can you look into a mirror everyday and know that you're the reason thousands of innocent lives are gone?" She asked in a snarl._

 _Nutmeg instantly looked down, holding back tears._

 _Archer only thickened his glare. "Buzz off Gertrude, you hardly know the whole story," he snapped and the dark ginger squirrel turned her cold gaze to the captain._

 _"Oh really? Because from what I've heard-that little beast is the reason that my grandsons are dead! She is the reason my own son is dead! I had a family in that refuge! And she slaughtered them! She killed everyone! If I had it my way-we would have her burned on a stake like they used to do to all evil Devils."_

 _Archer was about to yell at Gertrude again when Nutmeg stepped forward, silencing Archer._

 _Nutmeg turned to look at Gertrude. "Believe me, I feel horrible-I take full responsibility for my actions, everything you said is the truth. I did kill thousands of innocent lives, and why? Because I tried to look at the bigger picture. You can't possibly understand that no one feels worse about what happened than me, if I could go back in time and redo it I would, but I can't. I can only imagine what you are going through-and I am so, so sorry," she apologized; close to tears._

 _Gertrude looked at Nutmeg with a scowl. "Sorry doesn't change anything child, no matter how much you try to deny it-you are a murderer, a bloody homicidal maniac who killed thousands of innocent lives, and that will never change," she snarled. "You will always have the blood of everyone who died at the refuge on your paws, and that will never go away," she stated. "Why should you live while thousands had to die? Why do you get too live while you killed thousands of others?"_

 _Nutmeg couldn't hold back as the tears started to fall again. "I-I have to go," she excused herself and ran past Archer and Gertrude, heading out into the forest and away from everyone else._

 _Gertrude scoffed. "Good riddance, I hope she dies out there," she snarled fiercely._

 _Archer glared at the older squirrel. "You know nothing of what she is going through, so just leave her alone," he ordered before taking off after Nutmeg._

 _(End flashback C)_

 **CnC**

It wasn't hard tracking Catfish down, and when they got to the shed he was staying at it wasn't hard to break in.

Kia unlocked the door and led the patrol in, the shed was tiny and couldn't fit very many. But as soon as they got in there it was easy to see that all of Catfish's followers had left him. In fact the chipmunk didn't look nearly as threatening anymore.

"Catfish," Kia said her voice calm. Now her two teammates did not seem as calm; Ty was holding her breath as she looked at the chipmunk- frozen. Nika on the other hand looked like it was taking everything she had not to kill the chipmunk.

Said chipmunk looked up to spot them and forced a grin. "Well if it isn't Team Watermelon, but wait! You're missing a teammate, I wonder what could have happened to that annoying squirrel of yours...oh wait, I blew her up."

That was the final straw. Nika let out a loud battle cry and launched herself at the chipmunk; surprising him as she tackled him to the ground and started beating him up.

Ty's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but the cat didn't overall react, and neither did Kia. The penguin just watched the scene unfold before her with an emotionless stare as Nika beat Catfish to a pulp.

It wasn't until the three squirrel agents came that the beating stopped. "Agent Navoony stop! He's down! You have him! Stop! You're going to kill him!" One of the brown ones yelled and the gray turned to look at Kia.

"Stop your teammate before she kills him!" He ordered.

Kia turned her cold stare to the gray squirrel. "Why?"

"Why? Because she'll kill him!"

"So? He killed Nutmeg, why should I stop him from receiving the same fate? Who am I to stop poetic justice?" Kia asked in that emotionless way of hers-it was almost scary how cold Team Watermelon had become, and all because they lost the heart of their team.

The gray squirrel sighed. "Pull her off him," he ordered the two brown squirrels, who seemed a little scared but did as they were told.

They eventually managed to pull Nika off, but not before she caused some real damage; Catfish would need medical attention. However Nika struggled free from the squirrels and got prepared to go at it again when Ty stopped her.

"Nika don't," Ty said and Nika looked at her surprised but let her continue. "He doesn't deserve a quick death. His needs to be slow and painful, dragging it out as long as we can until he is begging for death," she explained smoothly.

Nika slowly calmed down and let her fists drop as the squirrels helped Catfish get up. She glared at him. "Varning chipmunk-eef you so much as mention Nutmeg again, I vwill make sure you never speak again, I vwill personally put you six feet een ground-I have killed before, I am not afraid to do eet again," Nika warned before she stormed off with Ty following after her.

Kia lingered back to turn and stare at the chipmunk. "Feel lucky that R.A.D.I.S.H apprehended you, for if Team Watermelon had acted on its own, I can assure you that you would wish it had been you that died in that explosion, you will wish that you had died and gone to that special place in the ground for you, because what you would have experienced would have been ten times worse than anything down there," she told him in a strangely calm voice before she followed her two emotional teammates out.

 **CnC**

 _(Fourth flashback, I think? Also WARNING: this next part deals with suicidal thoughts, if that's extremely sensitive for you-skip over it.)_

 _Nutmeg had ran away from her problems once again, she had promised herself to try and stay strong however what Gertrude said really hit her, and so she ran. Thoughts swirling around in her head. She couldn't stop thinking about what everyone said...what she did. Gertrude's words repeating over and over in her head._

 _"Why do you get to live when you killed thousands of others?"_

 _By the time Nutmeg stopped running she found herself standing only feet away from a cliff. Nutmeg slowed her pace until she came to a complete stop at the edge of the cliff-she looked down and gulped slightly; that was a long fall._

 _Her thoughts lingered there for a minute, as Gertrude's words once again repeated themselves in her mind. 'No' she finally thought. 'Nika, Kia, and Ty would never condemn this' she told herself forcefully inside her head but still made no movements to move away from the cliff. 'But-why should I live while thousands didn't get the chance?' She asked herself and blinked as she looked back down._

 _Right then someone ran out of the forest behind her. "Nutmeg!" Archer called and Nutmeg turned to look at the brown squirrel. Archer glanced at the cliff and put two and two together. "Nutmeg...what are you doing?" He asked timidly._

 _Nutmeg glanced once more at the cliff. 'They would want you to keep fighting,' she thought. Nutmeg finally looked away from the cliff-her mind made as she walked towards Archer. "I was thinking, but I'm done now. I'm sorry for running off I just-"_

 _Archer cut her off. "No don't say anything, it's okay; I understand. Gertrude was way out of line-"_

 _"No, she wasn't," Nutmeg stated; surprising the brown squirrel. "Everything she said is true, I will have to live with the blood of innocent lives on my paws for the rest of my life. But I can still try and make it up to everyone for what I did, and that is what I'm going to do," she said firmly. Determination sparked in her dark green eyes._

 _Archer gave a weak smile. "So, does that mean you'll come out of your room more often?" He asked hopefully as he looked over at Nutmeg; who nodded._

 _"I can't run from the world any longer," she mused. "But I can at least try and make up for my mistakes, I know that I will never forgive myself for what I did, and I don't expect anyone else to either. But I can at least try and make up for what I did," Nutmeg explained._

 _(End flashback)_

 **CnC**

Ty forced herself to eat. She felt sick, sure they had captured Catfish-but Nika had nearly killed him in the process, and what was worse was that a team of R.A.D.I.S.H agents had gone out earlier to search through the rubble of the base. Ty wasn't sure she was ready to deal with that yet. A part of her was still clinging to the possibility that maybe somehow Nutmeg survived that explosion, even though Kia kept telling her that it was extremely improbable.

The cat let out another pitiful mew as she thought about what had happened the day before. She hated herself for not trying harder, for not going in after Nutmeg even when the squirrels held her back. She blamed herself for Nutmeg's death and she didn't know how to cope with the fact that the sweet little squirrel she knew was gone.

Ty glanced over at the other two animals that were sitting with her at the table. Nika was glaring at everyone and everything, the handcuffs had to go back on once they got back from capturing Catfish since R.A.D.I.S.H had labeled Nika too violent to walk around freely. Meanwhile Kia seemed almost robotic like, showing absolutely no emotion as she sat on the other side of Ty, eating her fish in silence.

Right then a squirrel burst through the cafeteria doors. "The search party is back!" He declared and all heads turned to look at him.

Kia kept her gaze cool. "Did they find anything?" She asked stiffly, her right flipper curling up into a small fist as her whole body tensed.

The squirrel looked right over at the table with the rest of Team Watermelon and nodded. "They found Major Watermelon."

Instantly he had everyone's attention, however the one that reacted the most was Nika as she got up from the table. "Eef you think eet ees okay to come een here and tell us how you found our dead teammate's body-" the lemur was cut off by the squirrel.

"Nutmeg's alive."

Instantly the room froze and Nika took a step back. "V-vut did you say?" She asked, her voice shifted dramatically from the fierce snarl to a hushed whisper.

"Nutmeg-she's alive, they brought her into the medical bay, Major Watermelon isn't dead. They found her just in time," he explained.

Almost instantly Kia and Ty got up from the table as well; leaving their food behind as they rushed up to the squirrel. "C-can we see her?" Ty asked, her voice breaking.

The squirrel only had to give a nod before the members of Team Watermelon were gone.

 **CnC**

 _(Fifth flashback)_

 _It had been a week since the explosion of the safe house and Nutmeg had stayed true to her word as she helped the families in need and did everything she could to make up for what she did._

 _It was nighttime currently, and Nutmeg was in her bed trying to fall asleep, she hadn't been able to sleep at all since it all happened. It was just too much to deal with, she kept replaying the events in her head as her dreams turned into continual nightmares. This had made her become an extremely light sleeper, even the slightest noise could wake her up._

 _A floorboard creaked and Nutmeg shot up in an instance, she looked around the dark room before rubbing her eyes. She must have just heard something...Nutmeg glanced back down at her pillow but knew she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep for the night and slipped out of her bed._

 _She made her way to the light switch and turned it on before sitting down on her bed again-hugging her bushy squirrel tail. She had had the same nightmare again, and the fact that she wasn't sleeping was beginning to show while she was awake. Archer in particular was worried about her._

 _"Team Watermelon would be ashamed of me..." Nutmeg muttered quietly. That was another thing that was constantly haunting the squirrel, knowing that Team Watermelon would hate her for what she did was nearly impossible to digest._

 _She sighed and let her shoulders sag, no matter how hard she tried-Nutmeg still felt horrible. However as she let her thoughts stray, she heard a small creak again and instinctively pointed her ears up as the fur on her neck stood on end-the entire atmosphere of the room dropped and Nutmeg had a sudden urge to turn out._

 _And so she did, however as soon as she did-she wished she hadn't. Nutmeg's eyes went wide as she scurried off her bed-some sort of animal in all black and a ski mask behind her, holding a knife as it charged at Nutmeg._

 _The squirrel ducked just in time and made a dash for the gun under her bed, she made it just in time and grabbed the weapon right as the assassin cut her arm and she fired._

 _A loud bang filled the room and the sound of a body dropping to the floor quickly followed. Nutmeg's door burst open and Archer, Cody, and Miranda were inside in an instance._

 _Cody and Miranda instantly went to the body as Archer ran over to the shaking squirrel._

 _Nutmeg lowered the gun in her shaky paw and looked at the body. "He-he isn't dead is he?" She asked-choking slightly._

 _Miranda checked before shaking her head. "No, you just shot him in his knee," she explained. Nutmeg let out a sigh of relief-she didn't know what she would do if she had killed another person._

 _Cody looked at the body and scowled. "It's seems some people are more angry about what happened than I thought..." He mused quietly. "Someone would have to be furious to have gone to such lengths," he stated before looking at Nutmeg. "It seems more people want you dead than we thought."_

 _(End the flashback.)_

 **CnC**

Nika, Kia, and Ty walked into the room where Nutmeg was and simultaneously gasped at what they saw. Nutmeg was burnt in all sorts of places and looked particularly beat up as the doctors tried to wrap her up.

Nika took a step forward, reaching her paw out to the squirrel, it was truly painful to see Nutmeg like this. None of the team could conceal the tears that were beginning to form in the corners of their eyes.

Right then someone cleared their throat from the doorway and the three melons turned to see a small gray squirrel. "Team Watermelon I presume?" She guessed and the three nodded. "Come with me-we can talk outside," she stated and without waiting for them to follow- the squirrel headed out.

Team Watermelon glanced at each other before following the squirrel until they were a safe distance away from the working doctors.

The little gray squirrel looked at the melons before speaking. "I'm doctor Bright, I'll be taking care of Nutmeg until she's better," she explained simply.

Kia nodded. "How did she survive something like that? Theoretically it's impossible to survive an explosion of that magnitude..." The penguin trailed off and Dr Bright nodded.

"Yes I was getting to that. You see-those burns aren't from the explosion."

Ty looked at her in shock. "What? But how is that possible?" She asked, clearly not believing what the doctor was saying. However Dr Bright kept her cool as she answered.

"It appears Nutmeg found our lab in the base and locked herself inside an experimental cocoon our scientists were working on that has the ability to withstand a nuclear war. However what major Watermelon didn't know was that the cocoon also worked as an independent healing compartment that heals the user at an extraordinary rate," Bright explained.

Kia looked at the squirrel warily. "Let me guess, something went wrong?" She asked.

Bright nodded. "The explosion set off a spark and turned the cocoon on, however it went on the fritz and instead of doing what it was supposed too-it malfunctioned, burning Nutmeg," she explained.

Nika nodded in understanding. "But, she vwill be alright, vont she?" She asked nervously, afraid to know the answer.

Bright winced slightly. "I'm afraid I don't know, Nutmeg may never fully heal-our scientists and doctors are working hard to find out what else happened to her while she was in there, but there is something else you should now," she explained warily.

Kia looked at her while Ty folded her arms. "And what's that?" The cat asked.

"Besides the burns, I'm afraid a spark of electricity shot Nutmeg while she was in there-it paralyzed her from her waist down. I'm afraid Nutmeg will never be able to walk again."

 **Me: I had more planned for this chapter, but I kinda like ending it here. Anyways, once again I apologize for the wait. I'm one very bad llama.**

 **Kia: I wonder how the readers feel about you right now Misty, I mean this is just the beginning of what you have planned for everyone. Do the CnCuddlers know how you plan on bringing every character down to their knees?**

 **Me: Well they weren't supposed to-spoil sport.**

 **NEXT TIME ON: Smile 'N Wave:**

 _"I just got a call from Kia-Team Watermelon will be retuning tomorrow," Kowalski explained as he looked at the rest of the Penguins in front of him. Team Watermelon had left for their mission in Canada weeks ago, of course Kia had called to tell them that due to something important that they wouldn't be returning for a few more weeks._

 _Skipper nodded. "Good, we need our fifth member back, I forgot how hard missions are without an extra pair of flippers," he stated._

 _Private tilted his head. "Why do you think it took them so long to come back from the mission?" He asked and Kowalski shrugged._

 _"Kia didn't say-I suppose we will find out tomorrow."_

 **Me: Alright, bye CnCuddlers!**

 **Kia: Be sure to review! Bye!**


	11. Recovery

**Me: We're back from hiatus!**

 **Kia: A month late, but yes. We are back.**

 **Me: Start the chapter!**

It had been a week, Team Watermelon had left for Canada almost a week ago.

And they still hasn't come back. Needless to say; the Penguins and lemurs were worried. This mission was only supposed to take a few days at most, and yet they were still gone. It was hard not too worry, even though Hazel told them to relax; after all, this was Team Watermelon they were talking about. The team people sent when things got bad, they would be fine.

At the moment, the Penguins were outside going over some training before the zoo opened. Currently all four males were lined up from tallest to shortest as they trained, Kolette was training along with them, standing next to Private; a focused and determined look on her face. Surprisingly enough, the young penguin chick was keeping up with the grown ups at an extraordinary rate. It seemed like she processed everything they were doing with ease and copied it to a T.

Right then Hazel poked her head out of the HQ. "Oi Koala, your phone in the lab has been ringing for the past thirty minutes-whoever is trying to call you is relentless!" She exclaimed; the brown feathered penguin sounded annoyed to say the least.

Kowalski glared at her as he made his way over. "Why didn't you answer it?" He asked although it sounded more like an annoyed snap.

Hazel returned his glare with one of her own. "Because Koala, you told me too: (and I quote) Keep my brown feathered flippers out of your lab-because I can't be trusted since I'm an ex villain," she stated using 'quotation marks' and a roll of her hazel eyes.

Kowalski exhaled in frustration but overall just ignored her as he made his way down into the HQ. He waddled on over to his lab and entered, quickly making his way over to the phone and picking it up. "Hello?"

 _"Hey, it's Kia."_

The intellect had to take a step back before realization struck him and he grinned. "Kia! Thank goodness you called, we haven't heard from you since Team Watermelon left for Canada-and that was a week ago!" He exclaimed.

 _"Yeah, sorry about that...look something...came up, I'm afraid we won't be returning for another few weeks. I'm sorry to call and tell you like this, but I knew I had to check in."_

Kowalski had stopped listening too intently. "You're not coming back yet? Why?!" He asked; flabbergasted. Why wouldn't they come back yet? What happened to them?

 _"I-I can't explain over the phone. It's better to see for yourself. Please don't fight me on this Honey, just tell the team-and the lemurs, that we won't be back for a few more weeks to a month. I have to go now, bye Kowalski-I'll see you in a few weeks. Love you."_

Kowalski sighed. "Love you too," he said and Kia hung up, leaving him with more questions than answers.

 **CnC**

A month and half a week had passed since Team Watermelon left for Canada, they had left the last week of September. Now it was November 1st. They had missed Halloween. Everyone had been worried before, and as more time went on; the more worried they got.

Currently, the Penguins plus Hazel and Kolette were inside the HQ, sitting around the table as they tried to distract themselves with a card game when Kowalski walked over. Now he had been a bit depressed lately, but he looked a little happy then.

"I just got a call from Kia-Team Watermelon will be retuning tomorrow," Kowalski explained as he looked at the rest of the Penguins in front of him. Team Watermelon had left for their mission in Canada weeks ago, of course Kia had called to tell them that due to something important that they wouldn't be returning for a few more weeks.

Skipper nodded. "Good, we need our fifth member back, I forgot how hard missions are without an extra pair of flippers," he stated.

Private tilted his head. "Why do you think it took them so long to come back from the mission?" He asked and Kowalski shrugged.

"Kia didn't say-I suppose we will find out tomorrow."

Right then a noise came from the entrance hole and everyone turned to see the lemurs(or at least a few of them) fall into the HQ. This time it was Julien, Tina, Micky, and Mort.

Hazel glared. "If you guys would only let me booby trap the entrances...we wouldn't be having these problems," she stated under her breath and Kolette looked up at her with a smirk.

The recently two year old popped a piece of Halloween candy into her beak. "Auntie Hazel-Uncle Skipper doesn't let you near the entrance because we don't want anyone to loose a foot," she teased and Hazel glared playfully at her.

Skipper looked annoyed at the lemurs but not quite as mad as usual. "Ringtail-what is it now?" He asked; sounding tired.

Julien got up and readjusted his crown on his head before answering. "Er, me, Tina, and Micky were just wondering if you had heard anything from Team Watermelon?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as he could but it was clear he missed his girlfriend.

Kowalski brightened. "It just so happens we were just talking about them. Kia just called-she explained that they would be returning tomorrow, although we should prepare ourselves for a surprise," he explained. He sounded a little uncertain about that last part.

Tina grinned. "I love surprises! I wonder what it'll be! Do you think the surprise is the reason they're taking so long?" She mused thoughtfully, her mind going into her super speed as she thought about what the surprise could be.

Hazel shrugged. "Who knows, but I bet this isn't a fun kind of surprise."

Kowalski looked over at her. "What makes you say that?"

Hazel gave everyone a deadpanned look. "What could possibly keep Team Watermelon in Canada for a month? Whatever it is...can't be good."

 **CnC**

Nutmeg could feel her teammates cast her pitiful looks and she hated it. Currently they were all on the Melon and heading back to New York, Doctor Bright had stated the other day that Nutmeg was finally well enough to return home.

The squirrel sighed and looked down at her legs-her useless pathetic legs that she would never be able to use again. When she had woken up a few days after the explosion, she had instantly freaked out over not feeling her legs and Kia had to explain to her what happened before she calmed down.

Right then Ty walked over to Nutmeg and gave a weak smile. "Hey Nutmeg-we're approaching Central Park, we should be there any minute," she explained carefully and cast a look over at the wheelchair that Nutmeg was in. "D-Will you need any help getting off the Melon?" She asked.

Nutmeg felt like glaring. She wasn't useless! But she didn't, instead she just sighed and nodded her head. "I'll need a little help," she admitted downheartedly.

Ty smiled and nodded however before she could say anything else-Kia's voice spoke through the speakers of the jet. "Passengers-please take your seats, we are approaching our destination and are about to land." The cat sighed and looked back over at Nutmeg. "I have to go and sit down, but once we land I'll come back and help you-okay?" She asked and Nutmeg just nodded.

Soon the jet landed and everyone started to get out of their seats, Ty went to go help Nutmeg while Kia stayed to bring the jet back to its 'garage' and Nika made sure no humans or stray animals were watching.

Once everything was taken care off, the team met back up and Nika looked at them, glancing down at Nutmeg. "Are you ready to see everyone?" She asked although her question was more for Nutmeg than the other two.

The squirrel nodded and started to wheel her chair forward. "Let's get this over with..." She mumbled quietly and the others followed after her, Ty keeping close to her in case she needed any help.

They soon made it to the zoo, luckily it was already closed so that they wouldn't have to worry about any people seeing them and they slowly made their way to their own HQ, however Ty ended up stepping on a rather large sticker and let out an angry hiss if protest.

"Great mother of-"

Right then Kia whacked her hard in the back of the head. "Language Ty," she lectured and the cat glared at her. But before the cat could come up with a comeback, someone spotted them and waved and ran over.

Tina grinned as she spotted the team of melons. "Nika! Kia! Ty! Nutmeg! You're back!" She yelled loudly and embraced them all in a tight hug one at a time; first tackling Nika, and then Kia, then Ty, and last Nutmeg-but she stopped when she saw the squirrel.

"Woah-Nutmeg, what happened to you? Did you know you're in a wheelchair?" She asked and promptly got hit in the back of the head by Nika.

"Tina be polite."

The lemur gave Nika a sheepish smile for an apology; Nika glared and looked about ready to lecture her when Nutmeg intervened.

"It's okay," she started. "I don't mind," Nutmeg explained and looked over at Tina. "I got into an accident during our mission in Canada, I was badly injured which is why we weren't able to return until now," Nutmeg explained, looking a little crestfallen.

Tina nodded. "Okay, and so why are you still in a wheelchair?" She asked out of curiosity, it wasn't like she was trying to be rude or anything.

Nutmeg sighed and looked down. "I was paralyzed from my waist down, I can't feel my legs and I certainly can't move them. I'm afraid you'll be seeing a lot of me in a wheelchair, since I'm never going to walk again."

Tina stopped in her tracks as she looked at Nutmeg: shocked.

 **CnC**

It was the next day and soon everyone knew about Nutmeg's predicament. News travels fast around the zoo, and even the park. Although it hadn't stretched quite that far yet.

The Penguins had just finished training and were heading back into the HQ, they didn't have to worry about entertaining a lot of guests because there weren't very many people that visited the zoo in November, especially when it looked like it might snow soon.

Private glanced over at the exit and sighed.

Skipper looked over at the younger penguin. "What's the matter soldier?" He asked and Private looked over at Skipper.

"I was just thinking about Nutmeg, it must be awful for her-I was wondering if it would be alright if I visited her Skippah," Private explained, as cute and innocent as ever.

Skipper smiled at him. "Sure Private, I bet she'd like that. In fact, why don't we all go-" He started but was cut off by Kia.

"Woah wait, all of us? No I'm sorry but I don't think that's a good idea," Kia stated and everyone turned to look at her. "Nutmeg has been a bit weary of crowds or large groups," she explained. "I think it would be best if you visited her one at a time."

Private glanced at Skipper, waiting for him to speak before he finally nodded. "Alright-Private you're free to go visit Nutmeg, we can all go see her separately later," Skipper decided and Private smiled before running off to go get his present for her.

Kowalski looked over at Kia. "From what you're telling us it seems more than just her legs were damaged."

Kia nodded sadly. "She isn't acting like herself-she's more timid, more afraid...I don't think we'll ever get the old Nutmeg back."

 **CnC**

Nutmeg looked up as someone entered the HQ. She had been hanging back by the furniture and watching Ty and Nika train since she couldn't really participate in it anymore, she wasn't sure what exactly she was gonna do now, would she still be allowed on the team? She was kinda useless at the moment...

Private and Kia waddled in and Kia approached Nika and Ty, while Private waddled over to Nutmeg and greeted her with a smile. "Hello Nutmeg," he said happily.

Nutmeg forced a smile. "Private-what are you doing here?" She asked, although she had already pieced everything together in her head, the fact that he was here with a wrapped gift in his flippers suggested he had come to give her a present, probably because he felt bad for what happened.

The fact that it was just him and Kia suggested that originally, all the Penguins had wanted to come, but Kia had kept them back, probably because she was worried more than one would overwhelm her, it was likely she would be getting a visit from the others later.

Private handed her the neatly wrapped gift. "I brought you a gift," he explained and the squirrel looked down at it.

"Thanks."

The penguin looked at her. "So, how are you feeling?" He asked, Private didn't want to tip toe around anything, but he knew it would be rude to be blunt.

Nutmeg looked up at the penguin before glancing past him too look at her teammates. "Private I have always felt comfortable telling you things that I can't tell anyone else. You're really the only one that I feel like understands, and so I'm going to be completely honest with you; I feel useless." Nope, Nutmeg wasn't going to beat around the bush either.

"I feel like a burden that only causes more trouble than she stops. I feel like a little kid that isn't being told everything because people think I can't handle the truth. I feel like everyone is either avoiding me, or pitying me, and I hate it," Nutmeg stated.

Private looked surprised by her little outburst. Even if she had kept her voice quiet. "Nutmeg-you're not useless-"

"Don't kid yourself Private, I am useless. I can't go on missions, I can't train, I can't even walk-I need my team to take care of me more than I would like, and I can't even return the favor. I'm hardly even allowed out of the HQ! Actually scratch that, I'm not allowed outside. Half for my own safety, and half because we can't risk letting humans seen a squirrel in a wheelchair," Nutmeg stopped and looked down; choking on her words. "I don't even feel like I belong anymore..."

Private sighed and looked at the squirrel, he was trying to come up with something to say to cheer her up, but he couldn't. All he could think to do was give her a hug, which was exactly what she needed.

 **CnC**

As the day went on, Nutmeg got even more visitors, including the rest of the Penguins, Marlene, a few lemurs, and some other people in the area. It was actually a bit tiring really, Nutmeg wasn't sure how much longer she could take with all this.

She was currently gripping the watermelon plushie gift she had got from Private. (She still wasn't sure where he had found it.) When someone else came in and she lifted her head to see Wally.

The chipmunk smiled at her and walked on over. "Hey-Nika said I could come on in, I heard about what happened..." He said, trailing off as he glanced down at Nutmeg's legs.

The squirrel sighed. "I'm not surprised, the news seems to have spread like wildfire. Thanks for coming to visit though, it really means a lot to me," she said, repeating the words she had already had to say so many times before.

Wally smiled slightly. "Why do I get the feeling you've said that before?" He asked and Nutmeg gave him a weak smile.

It was silent for a minute before Nutmeg spoke again. "Wally, I feel like the world is against me, or at least someone sure is. If Catfish hadn't done that, I wouldn't have paralyzed my legs...I've just been thinking lately, and it's really hard to look forward to tomorrow, when there's so much darkness in the world today..." She said and trailed off.

Wally looked at her before exhaling determinedly. "Nutmeg I'm going to tell you something, and I expect you too listen-okay?" He asked and Nutmeg nodded. He smiled. "Good, because you might not like what I'm going to say," he explained and Nutmeg looked up at him; curiously.

"Look, the world is dark. It's dark and depressing and sad, bad things happen-they just do. We can't always help it, sometimes the world is just sad. But, it is also light, and beautiful, and precious. Life is precious, we have a tendency to focus solely on the bad and not on the good. All it takes is to find one flicker of light in the sky before you start looking for more. And then, soon all you can see is light-and that is what we should focus on." Wally told her. "Nutmeg, I know everything might seem dark and depressing now, but there will always be tomorrow, untainted, precious, innocent tomorrow. I love tomorrow, and you want to know why? Because it's always a day away, it's always that hope that you can hold on too. If you just keep believing that everything will be better tomorrow-then it might just start becoming true."

He finished and Nutmeg looked up at him with watery eyes. She sniffed. "Wally...thank you, I think that is just what I needed to hear," she stated and reached forward to hug him, which he returned.

Wally sighed and breathed in her scent as he hugged her back. "No need to thank me Nutmeg, I would do anything for you," he whispered. The chipmunk seemed to be thinking everything over before breathing out. "Nutmeg, I don't care if you can use your legs or not, because that doesn't change who you are inside, and that's what really matters."

Nutmeg smiled at him after the hug.

The chipmunk scratched the back of his head. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you actually, and I know it's not really my place or anything, but I can't help how I feel. Nutmeg I care about you, a lot-in fact you could even go as far as to say I lo-"

"Nutmeg! Are you okay?"

The chipmunk and squirrel turned their attention to the entrance to see Archer standing there as he walked in. "I heard you somehow got hurt, what happened?" He asked and then the squirrel spotted Wally. "Walnut, good to see you."

Wally gave a fake laugh. "Yeah, good to see you too Archer," he said half-heartedly before turning to look at Nutmeg. "Hey uh, I better go-just-just remember what I told you, okay?" He asked and Nutmeg nodded.

"Always," she said and smiled. Wally smiled back before he walked past Archer and left the room, closing the doors behind him.

Once Wally was gone, Nutmeg turned her attention to Archer and gave a slight, small smile. "Hi Archer," she said weakly.

Archer smiled at her. "Hey, I came as soon as I could-what happened? You were gone for over a month!" He lectured, he sounded worried to say the least.

Nutmeg looked down. "Oh yeah, that...well you remember Catfish right?" She asked and her boyfriend growled.

"How could I forget?" He asked in a dark voice.

"Yes well, Team Watermelon ran into him and he caused some more trouble, I ended up telling my team about...before, and then Catfish tried to blow up the R.A.D.I.S.H base in Canada, I tried to stop him. I got everyone out in time-but myself, I ended up hiding in a cocoon, but it malfunctioned and...Archer the reason we were in Canada for so long was because I needed to heal," she explained.

Archer nodded. "Okay, so um why are you still in the chair? It looks like you've recovered," he stated and gestured towards the wheelchair that Nutmeg was in and instantly the female squirrel looked back down.

"I was paralyzed from my waist down, the reason I'm in the wheelchair is because I'll never be able to walk again. Doctor Bright told me I was lucky I survived," she explained, once again chocking on her words.

Archer's eyes went wide and he started to look a little uncomfortable. "Oh," he said and cleared his throat. "Hey Nutmeg-there's something I should probably talk to you about..." He said and trailed off.

Nutmeg looked up at him nervously. "Yes?" She asked although the squirrel already had a bad feeling about this.

 **CnC**

Wally exhaled as he closed the doors to Nutmeg's room. "Well that never gets easier," he muttered under his breath and started to walk towards the exit of the HQ. Nika, Kia, and Ty were sitting around in the couch corner of the wide open space of their newest HQ. They seemed to be discussing something important but Wally wasn't sure what.

He waved to them. "Uh hey guys, thanks for letting me visit-I'm gonna head out now if that's okay..." He trailed off, honestly the chipmunk felt a little awkward talking to the other members of Nutmeg's team. They happened to be a lot scarier than Nutmeg was.

Nika answered. "Alvight Vally, thank you for visiting," she said absentmindedly and Wally replied before he headed towards the entrance. However he stopped by the door to listen to the last bit our their conversation.

"I still don't know Nika, Nutmeg is still unstable, I don't recommend taking on this mission, even if it's in Russia," Kia stated and Wally couldn't help but linger to overhear hoe this conversation would go.

Nika sighed. "You do not fully understand vhy vis meesion means so much too me, but I can hold eet off until Nutmeg ees vwell enough," the lemur decided.

Ty nodded. "Besides, what would we do with Nutmeg if we all left? She can't be left alone in her state," she commented and Kia intervened.

"We could always have her stay with Archer, he seems too care a lot for Nutmeg."

Wally scoffed, and instantly the three melons turned to him and gave him a pointed look, probably wondering why he was even still there.

Kia blinked. "Wally, were you eavesdropping?" The penguin asked, she sounded as if she was scolding a child who just got caught stealing cookies out of the cookie jar; stern, and disappointed yes, but not mad.

Wally gave a sheepish nod. "Sorry, I just-I heard you talking about Nutmeg, and I stayed a little longer than I should have...I'm sorry-but the only reason why I continued to listen in, is because you guys are way off about Archer."

Ty folded her arms and gave the chipmunk a skeptic look. "What exactly do you mean Wally?" She asked; her light green eyes staring right at him. Wally had to admit he felt a little bit intimidated, even if the cat's fur was sticking out making her look more fluffy than ferocious.

"Well, you said Archer cares about Nutmeg, but you guys weren't around for the past two years, you don't know anything about their relationship," he started and Ty glared.

"And you do?"

The chipmunk nodded. "Well yeah, whenever Nutmeg was upset she would come and tell me what was going on, I'm her friend," he explained. "Archer has been terrible to her, their entire relationship. He's verbally abused her, cheating on her, and fought with her on countless occasions. Nutmeg stays with him because she believes he can change."

At this, the entire team was surprised.

 **CnC**

Team Watermelon had been about ready to go pound Archer for what they heard, but soon after Wally explained to them about the two squirrels, the Penguins called them-apparently they needed some help with something, Nika had explained to Wally that they would be back as soon as they finished getting Kolette off the ceiling stuck in a tissue box, a test tube, a sardines can, and covered in popcorn.

So now Wally was left alone in the wide area of the team's HQ, he wasn't sure exactly why he was still around, maybe because he expected Team Watermelon to come back and finish talking to him.

However right then, the door to Nutmeg's room burst open and Archer walked out, while Nutmeg wheeled herself out after him.

"Archer! Wait!" Nutmeg called after him, sounding desperate to catch him.

The squirrel turned around. "What?"

Nutmeg looked up at him, her eyes watery. "Why? I know we have had our problems, but I thought that you would be there for me! Especially now...And now you're breaking up with me?" She asked and Wally stiffened.

Archer sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Look Watermelon, you don't get it. I wanted that job, I wanted to be major, I worked hard, and I had that job from the start. But then you came along and got it without even being about of R.A.D.I.S.H. I knew you had made an impression on Swanson, so I figured if I got close to you, I'd get that job somehow. I admit that it was fun at times, but I wasn't with you, just for being with you," he finished with a cold voice and started to head out.

Wally blocked the way, glaring at him. "Hey, that's not how you treat her."

Archer have Wally, a 'really?' Look and pushed past him, exiting the HQ.

Wally turned to Nutmeg, but the squirrel was already wheeling herself back into her room, and then the door closed. Wally didn't know what to do, so he looked at the exit before walking out of the HQ as well.

He wanted to go and pummel Archer to the ground, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to think rationally about this, he had to play it safe-Then again, where had playing safe ever gotten him? Whenever he played it safe, Nutmeg ended up getting hurt because he was too chicken to stand up to Archer.

He didn't understand why Nutmeg put up with the jerk...she couldn't possibly love someone like that, not the way he loved her. Love was supposed to be beautiful and perfect, the person you loved was supposed to mean the world to you. You were supposed to feel safe and secure when you were in their presence, you were supposed to feel that no matter the hardships that followed-that person would always be there for you; no matter what.

Then again, Wally didn't know much about relationships, maybe true love wasn't a real thing. But if it was fake, then why did Wally feel that way around Nutmeg?

-

Nutmeg rolled into her room, wiping tears away from her face, well that could have gone better. She knew that she had had problems with Archer in the past, after all for them their relationship had always been a constant battle. But still, she thought perhaps, she meant something to him. "I guess I was wrong," she sighed. "He never really cared about me," she deduced and her gaze fell upon a framed picture of Archer she had on her desk. "He just wanted the connections... He never really loved me," she choked out, wiping the tears away from her face once more.

 _(Start song)_

 _"I-I give up on love, and I-I give up on you,"_ Nutmeg sighed and turned away from the picture on her desk, her head drooping. Archer thought she was useless, and she was. But maybe there was something she could do about that.

 _"I've been treated oh so bad, by all these boyfriends that I've had."_

 _"Now you've hurt me and I'm so sad,"_ Nutmeg glanced out her door too see that the rest of her team wasn't there, perfect. Now she wouldn't have to explain anything as she made her leave...

-

Wally sighed as he started to make his way back to his tree. How Archer had treated her and how she had reacted...he didn't understand, maybe it was time to stop trying... _"I-I give up on love, and I-I give up on you,"_ He sang.

 _"Call you on a telephone, let it ring but you're not home."_

 _"So now I'm standing here all alone,"_ He sang as he climbed up his tree.

-

" _I give up on love, I give up on you,"_ Both mammals sang from the different location they were in. Wally in his tree and Nutmeg...leaving the HQ, striking out on her own.

 _"I give up on love, I give up on you..."_

 _(End song.)_

 **CnC**

Nutmeg had somehow managed to get herself out into the alleyways passed the zoo. Thoughts kept swarming in her head. Archer didn't care for her, everyone was tiptoeing around her, and her team thought she was officially useless.

She stopped and put her hand on her arm holder for her wheel chair. "What am I kidding? I am useless, I can't go on missions anymore, not unless somehow I prove to my team that I can do something..." She sighed. "Stupid legs, if only I could move you!" She complained and almost felt like whacking her useless legs.

Nutmeg sat there and thought for awhile, thinking over what she had been through as of late.

She went over Operation: Maple Syrup, fighting with Catfish, getting everyone out, and nearly dying herself. She thought about when she woke up, when she was told about her legs, and when she was told that she would never be able to walk again. Nutmeg remembered how her team, no her family had taken care of her. They catered to her every need, and if she felt uncomfortable, they made it their effort to make her comfortable. They missed Halloween because of her. They missed a lot because of her...She wasn't part of the team anymore, now she was just dead weight. Now she was simply something they needed to take care of.

Nutmeg glared, this was her fault. Her team had to care for her like this because she got herself hurt. If only there was a way to prove to them, to everyone, to herself, that she was not useless.

Once the squirrel got out into the park, she rolled onward. This might be crazy, stupid, and rash, but Nutmeg had long lost thinking properly. She knew the location of those two crooks: Drake and Fluffy, she knew they would be surprised. Maybe is she caught them, her team would realize that she was not useless.

However what the small red squirrel had not been expecting was to fall in a pit. A large, round pit. It was where the humans were going to build a bench, and had left the hole for the night, and Nutmeg had carelessly fallen right into it.

She fell out of her chair and landed flat on her stomach on the ground, with her chair but a few feet away, on its side. Nutmeg grimaced at the pain. "Owe," she mumbled and attempted to reach her chair, but failed. "Oh Nutmeg, what have you done?" She asked herself as she lay there in the pit

 **CnC**

"That scene was oddly familiar."

Team Watermelon had just returned from the whole Kolette, tissue box fiasco and for some reason it seemed very familiar to both teams.

Kia blushed. "Really? I wonder where you've seen that before," she said and gave a sheepish laugh while the other two glared at her. It appeared clumsiness runs in the family for the Quinn's.

Nika walked over to Nutmeg's room and knocked, however there was no answer. They still had Archer to deal with, however it was likely he left by now. The lemur knocked again and yet there still was no answer. This started to worry the lemur and she opened the door to reveal an empty room. "Nutmeg?"

Kia and Ty ran over upon hearing the worry in Nika's voice and when they got there, they gasped. "Where's Nutmeg?" Ty asked as she started to panic.

The team hurriedly checked the rest of the HQ before realizing she was not there, and then they checked the Penguin's HQ and the rest of the zoo, but Nutmeg was no where to be found. Team Watermelon was a panicky mess.

Skipper looked at the three melons, they had just put together a search party, which he thought was a little unnecessary but at the same time, he understood. Nutmeg was in no condition to be wandering around by herself. "Soldiers! Pull yourselves together!" He ordered the panicked Team Watermelon. "We will find Nutmeg," he informed.

Nika glared. "Ve should never have left her alone," she stated and the other two quickly agreed. Blaming themselves for the missing squirrel teammate of theirs.

Hazel folded her flippers. "If you three don't calm down, you can stay here while the rest of us go look for the damaged squirrel." As soon as she said this, she promptly got whacked by Kia. Hazel winced. Okay, maybe that was not the smarted thing to say to the panicked team.

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Alright, we'll split into three groups, group one with search the park, group two will search the the south side of the city, group three gets the north side of the city. Am I clear?" He asked and everyone nodded. "Good, now head out," he ordered and they set off in search of finding the squirrel.

The search teams consisted of the lemurs, the Penguins, Team Watermelon, Hazel and Kolette, as well as Marlene and Antonio. Team Watermelon had gone all out for the search party, maybe even going a little bit overboard.

 **CnC**

Wally had been about to turn in for the night when he ran into the Team Watermelon search party, who had tackled the park. The three of them, plus Hazel and Koko were an absolute mess, and when he asked why. He was told that Nutmeg was missing.

He had instantly offered to help find her, and they agreed. However he had gotten away from the group soon after joining them. He couldn't handle how worried they were and decided to venture out on his own.

He was nearing the construction area when he heard a small plea for help. He stopped and listened, there it was again. The call for help. The chipmunk slowly followed after the plea until he found himself standing in front of a big hole. Or at least it was a big hole for a chipmunk...and a squirrel. "Nutmeg?" He asked as he peered into the hole.

The squirrel stopped. "Wally?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's me."

There was a pause. "I'm stuck," Nutmeg explains. Though Wally could already see that just by looking into the hole. "Could you please help me?" She asked, her voice was weak and she sounded like she was ashamed of herself.

Wally smiled. "Of course Nutmeg!" He said and slid down into the hole. Once he got there he helped lift the chair up and brought it up out of the hole. He then went back for Nutmeg and carefully picked the squirrel up and brought her out of the hole as well. He placed her gently in her chair and brushed some dirt off of her hat before handing it back to her. "Better?" He asked.

Nutmeg nodded. "Thank you Wally."

There was a minute of silence, with the two just sorta staring at each other before Wally finally spoke. "What happened? Why would you just run-er sorry, wheel away like that?" He asked, he sounded worried, disappointed, and a little bit protective.

The squirrel looked down. "I just didn't want to be useless anymore," she explained. "I wanted to prove to my team, to everyone that I could still be useful...I wanted to prove that to myself, but I guess it just backfired on me...Now I and everyone else know, I am useless." She let out a sigh, clearly upset with herself.

Wally shook his head. "Nutmeg you are not useless! You just can't do what you used too. No you can't walk, but that doesn't mean you aren't useful anymore! You are still the smartest, bravest, nicest squirrel I know, and nothing can ever change that. You might not be able to walk, but you can still be useful. You just have to find new ways how," he explained. "Look, nothing will ever be the same, but things are always changing. You're still in Recovery. Nothing is ever the same as before, we just have to evolve with the change."

Nutmeg smiled and looked up at him. "How come you're so smart?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Don't know, but we can figure that out some other day. I think it's time we get you home," he said and chuckled. "I for one, know of a team that is going crazy not knowing where you are," he told her and Nutmeg giggled. Her first real laugh in a long time.

"I can only imagine."

Wally smirked. "You won't have to imagine when we find them, I'm pretty sure you are going to get smothered by them very soon," he said playfully.

Nutmeg winced. "Maybe I should go back to the hole..."

"Nope, come on, let's get you home."

With that, the chipmunk and the squirrel headed back to the zoo, just as the first snowfall of the season started to filter down onto the land. No nothing would ever be the same again, and yes Nutmeg was different now. However she also now knew that that was okay. She might be different, but that didn't mean she was useless, and she had a feeling that she would be just fine.

 **Me: Alright end of chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I think I promised this to you a month ago, my bad.**

 **Kia; but at least it's here now.**

 **Me: true, Also, things are gonna get even worse from here, just letting you know.**

 **Kia; Spoiler alert.**

 **Me: I'm the author, I get to spoil. Anyways, make sure to tune in next time on Smile 'N Wave!**

 **NEXT TME ON SnW:**  
 _  
"Heh, it's funny. I don't think we've ever had some one on one time, huh Rita?" Hayden asked as he glanced over at the crazy penguin._

 _She shook her head. "Uh-uh."_

 _Hayden smirked. "Well we're alone now, since everyone else went off to go deal with that whole dog and lizard problem. What do you say? You up for some fun?" He asked and the female penguin have him a look._

 _"Wha' kinda 'un?"_

 _A devious smile found its way onto the brown feathered penguin's face. "I've always liked Adele, have you ever wondered what it would be like to set fire to the rain?"_

 **Me: Alright, that's it for now!**

 **Kia; Remember to read, and review! Maybe Misty will update faster!**

 **Me: It's always a possibility. Reviews are juice.**

 **Kia:...Sure, we'll go with that. Anyways, bye guys and reminder to review!**

 **Me: I love you all! Bye, reminder to review!**


	12. Once Upon a Time

**Me:…**

 **Kia: *sigh* Misty, you can come out now, no one is going to kill you.**

 **Me: You don't know that, I've been gone without notice for over a year! There's no excuse for that. I'm awful.**

 **Kia: Well yeah, but you're back now and that's what matters.**

 **Me: Right… *comes out of hiding place* Hi everyone and welcome back to SnW! So I have rewritten this episode many times, doing a ton of different things for I, but finally I decided we need a fun chapter after that mess that the last chapters were, so here we go, fairy tales!**

 **Kia: But with a twist!**

 **Me: Yep! So enjoy, and for the record, I do not own these fairytales.**

 **Kia: We're not forgetting anything, are we? It's been so long, I can't remember…**

 **Me: I don't think so…Anyways, to the chapter!…Episode…Thing!**

Kia and the Beanstalk: 

Once Upon a Time, there lived a penguin with long feathers on her head, she lived in a small igloo with her grandfather. They had very little money and the only way they could earn any food was to catch fish, however the net they used was catching less and less fish, so one day, when they were in their igloo, they made a plan.

"We're not doing very well Kia, and catching fish is getting harder and harder. I think it's time we sell our net for some money, then we can figure out what to do with that," Frost, her grandfather explained as he looked over at his granddaughter.

Kia looked at her poor, frail old grandfather with a small frown on her face. He was right of course, they needed money. "Alright, tomorrow, I'll go into the rookery and sell our net for some money," she agreed.

You may wonder, why didn't they just…swim for fish? Well Frost was old and weak, and Kia, well she could only catch so much, and she couldn't leave her grandfather alone for very long, she couldn't travel anywhere for long to catch good fish, so the net was the only way they could get enough.

So the very next day, after making sure her grandfather was doing alright, Kia left, dragging the net behind her as she entered the rookery, hoping to find someone to sell her net to.

She was so busy looking for someone to sell to, that she didn't even pay attention to where she was going, and she ended up running right into a black and white, long haired cat. "Oh, I'm sorry…" Kia apologized.

Ty got back up and shook her head. "It's fine Kia, say…that's a fine looking net you got there," the cat purred out and Kia looked at her.

"Ty…you're not supposed to know my name…and what's a cat doing in Antartica? Honestly the casting in this thing makes no sense, how did you even get here, aren't you cold?" Kia asked in a hushed whisper and the cat glared at her.

"Way to break the fourth wall Kia, look just roll with it, and for the record, in the original story, the sales guy totally knew Jack's name, so I was doing just fine," Ty added smugly and Kia looked at her dryly. Ty sighed. "Just sell me the net."

Kia's eyes lit up. "Right! Well you see, I'm actually trying to sell it," she explained and Ty nodded as she started to circle the net, paw stroking her chin as she studied it.

"Well I can take it off your flippers, here you give me the net and I'll give you these!" Ty said and extended her hand to show Kia the three perfect looking beans.

Kia frowned and looked to the cat in disbelief. "Beans?" She questioned, folding her flippers.

Ty shook her head and grinned at Kia. "Not just any beans…magic beans!" She said dramatically and Kia looked at her in disbelief. "Oh come on, you believe in magic," Ty complained before continuing. "Plant them in the snow tonight and I promise you that by tomorrow, they'll have already grown, and if not…I'll give you the net back," she bargained.

Kia seemed to think about it for a moment or so before nodding. "Seems fair, have fun eating your fish!" She said, swiftly exchanging the net for the beans with the cat.

Then, she hurried on home to show her grandfather.

However, once he found out what she had done, he was far from happy.

"Beans? Beans Kia? Beans cant even grow in Antartica, oh we're ruined for sure," Frost said in agony as he shook his head and covered his eyes with his flippers. They'd starve, and all because his granddaughter was naive enough to believe a cat had magical beans of all things…

Kia frowned and looked down. "I'm sorry grandfather…but maybe…maybe if I plant them anyways, they…they might really be magical, we have to try, right?" She asked, looking over as Frost started to head back towards his room in the igloo.

"Do whatever you want Kia, I don't care," he said tiredly, and Kia stayed where she was for a moment as she looked down at the three beans in her flipper, and the she curled her flipper up into a fist and nodded.

"I'm going to plant these beans."

So, that night, Kia planted those beans, and in the morning, she woke up to find a long beanstalk, so tall she couldn't even see the top of it. There must be something out there, and so, bright and early that morning, Kia started to climb up the beanstalk.

Up, up, up, she went, climbing for what seemed like forever, using the vines as a ladder until she finally reached the sky and took a step off the beanstalk and down onto the clouds, yet she didn't fall.

"None of this is logical in the slightest…" Kia decided with a shake of her head as she looked around, spotting what looked to her to be a giant castle not far from here, even if it did end up only being a house, but it wasn't like she knew that.

So she started to the house, determined to see where it got to, however it wasn't long before she was spotted by a giant of a lady, with red hair and an all too grumpy expression as she picked Kia up with ease.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" The lady, Alice, asked and frowned, shaking her head. "Doesn't matter, come on in, I guess I better feed you before I let you go…" She decided, grumbling the entire way as she brought Kia inside the house and set her down on the large table before moving to the kitchen.

After being fed some delightful fish cookies, Kia was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe this place wasn't too bad.

That's when loud footsteps began to echo around the house and Alice frowned. "Oh no, that's Officer X, quick hide, he hates penguins," Alice explained quickly and Kia's eyes went wide as she scrambled to find a place to hide, eventually hiding in the plant on the table.

That's when he entered, it was Officer X, who entered the dining room and took a long sniff in. "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell a…penguin," and with that he glared and started to look around. "Where are you, I smell you!" He snapped.

Then Alice snapped right back. "There's no penguins here, idiot, it's just the two of us, now pipe down and get something to eat," she ordered, and Officer X didn't seem so sure, but he did as he was told anyways.

Then Officer X disappeared into the kitchen and Kia was about to make a run for it when Alice stopped her. "Wait until he falls asleep, the idiot always takes a nap after his breakfast," Alice told her quietly and Kia nodded, quickly going back to her hiding place as the man brought out a basket of random things over to the table and sat down.

He glared at the basket for a moment. "You better hack up something soon birdie, or I'll serve you up for breakfast instead," he warned and Kia peaked from her hiding place to spot who he was talking to.

It was Rico, who looked rather sickly and pale as he coughed up a whole meal for Officer X.

He ate his breakfast in peace before moving towards the living room, pulling out a…was that a harp? Or was that a squirrel? From this angle Kia really couldn't tell.

"Play," X ordered and Nutmeg sighed but agreed as she started to play the harp built nicely into her side and tail, it was, well it was interesting at least.

Kia waited, she waited until Officer X was finally asleep before she slipped out of her hiding place and rushed over to the basket. "Psst, Rico, come on, we're getting you out of here," she told him with a smile and the other penguin grinned up at her as he climbed out of the basket and landed beside her.

They had Rico hack up a ladder for Nutmeg and then the three of them were off, however on the way out, Kia fell and landed on the floor with an oomph, accidentally hitting one of the brooms by the door, making it fall over and clammer to the ground.

The three stood there quietly, worry on their faces, and then, Officer X woke up.

He sat up from his chair and took a whiff. "Penguin," he growled out, standing up and quickly spotting the two penguins and the squirrel not far off.

Kia gulped as he reached out and grabbed the two by their wrists. "Run!" She ordered and they all quickly ran as fast as they possibly could, down, down, down the beanstalk they went, with Officer X following right after.

As soon as they got down, Kia turned to Rico. "We need some chainsaws! Stat!" She ordered and Rico quickly regurgitated the required items. The three of them got to work and the beanstalk was sawed off soon enough.

It and Officer X fell down and landed on the frosty floor of the Antarctic, neither to ever be seen again.

They all cheered, and Frost was thrilled, thanks to Nutmeg and her music, and Rico and his regurgitation powers, they would never be out of money again, and the four of them lived happily ever after.

Well, at least until that sly cat Ty came around selling some magical seeds, but that is a tale for another day.

 **CnC**

Private and Nutmeg:

There once lived two young privates. One was a squirrel girl named Nutmeg, and the other was a penguin boy under the name of Private. They lived together with the squirrel agency R.A.D.I.S.H-

"Hang on a moment, but I'm not a squirrel," Private interrupted as he looked up at the sky, thereby interrupting the story completely and Nutmeg sent him a look.

"Private, we aren't supposed to interrupt the narrator! Besides, she knows what she's doing, just…roll with it," the squirrel suggested and although Private didn't seem so sure, he nodded and fell quiet.

Now, as I was saying…They lived together with the squirrel agency, R.A.D.I.S.H, however captain Archer didn't like them, he was annoyed by them, and so one day he was talking to General Swanson.

"There's too many people at the base General, we should get rid of those two privates once and for all, we should go drop them off in the forest, who knows, maybe they'll find some other sad team to take them in," he suggested.

General Swanson didn't seem so sure he wanted to ditch the two privates, but Captain Archer did have a point, and so he agreed to take then out into the forest that next day and leave them.

However what neither squirrel agents could possibly know, was that Private had heard everything and instantly went to go tell Nutmeg.

Except as soon as Nutmeg heard, she was very distraught and sniffled as she tried her best not to cry. "Oh no, if we're abandoned, where will we go? This is our only home…" She said, voice breaking as she lowered her ears and looked down, poor Nutmeg looked so absolutely depressed, it was almost hard to watch.

Private shook his head and put a flipper on her shoulder to comfort her. "Oh don't cry Nutmeg, it will be okay. I have a plan, see I've been collecting these small pebbles, when General Swanson takes us out tomorrow, I'll drop them so we can find out way back home," he explained and Nutmeg smiled over at him.

"That's a great plan, they wont get rid of us that easily," she agreed and the two nodded to each other, both now feeling much more prepared for the upcoming day.

So General Swanson took them out into the forest, and while they were collecting wood, he made a poor excuse and left, leaving them behind and never coming back. It was getting dark soon and they would have to find their way back.

Luckily the moon shown down on the forest floor, illuminating the small pebbles that Private had been dropping and soon enough, they found their way back to the base and snuck back in.

The next morning, when Archer found out, he was outraged and demanded that General Swanson took them out again, and so he did, and once again abandoned them, leaving a poor excuse before he was on his way.

But what he didn't know, was that Private had not eaten his fish that morning and had been dropping fish pieces along the way, they could find their way back home…but Private forgot about all the hungry forest animals out there, who ate all the fish.

Nutmeg huffed and paced a little. "Oh this is just awful, how will be get back home now?" She asked, wiping at her eyes with her paws. R.A.D.I.S.H was the only home she had ever known, she had no family before them.

Private tried to comfort her again, for he sure did hate to see people cry. "Oh, don't cry Nutmeg, we can find our way back all on our own, we just need…we just need to find a path!" He explained as he started to look around for a path and Nutmeg got to looking with him.

It wasn't long before Nutmeg had found a small path, only big enough for small animals like themselves. "Private, look! It's a path, we could follow it!" She suggested and Private quickly agreed. It wasn't long before they were on their way.

The path soon lead them to a cottage in a glade, the young privates rushed over, hoping to seek refuge, but that's when they noticed something truly odd about the house.

Nutmeg looked at it curiously, plucking a small piece of chocolate from the door. "This…this is chocolate!" She said in surprise, looking over to see that Private had run his flipper up the side of the door and pulled back to reveal a flipper covered in frosting.

"And this is frosting!"

Nutmeg furrowed her brow, looking at the house in surprise as she nibbled on the chocolate. "What an odd house…I wonder who lives here," she mused, and just then the door swung open, as if to answer Nutmeg's question as a large snake slithered out.

He looked at the two, a glint in his eyes that would have anyone worried as he stood up to his full height. "Well, aren't you two hungry little appetizers-I mean, acquaintances, do come in, you must be starving…" He said, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he watched them.

Nutmeg took a step back. "I don't think we should…" She started, as she had a truly awful feeling about this snake, but Private gently tugged at her arm, trying to lead her inside.

"Come on Nutmeg, we are hungry, and he seems nice," he said as he waddled on inside and Nutmeg followed after, eyeing the snake warily, she didn't trust him.

For good reason too, because you should never trust a snake, especially one like Savio.

As soon as they were inside, he whacked the door shut with his tail and tossed poor Private into a cage, feeling him carefully. "You're much too skinny, I will fatten you up and then eat you for dinner," he decided and turned to face Nutmeg. "You will do the housework, and then I shall eat you as well," he decided.

Nutmeg gulped, she knew they shouldn't have trusted him.

So for the next few days, Savio would try to fatten poor Private up, however he would refuse to eat and Savio would have to wait even longer. Then finally, he was done waiting and growled angrily.

"That's it! I refuse to wait a second longer," he said and pointed the tip of his tail at Nutmeg. "Turn on the oven, I'm having penguin soup for dinner," he decided and Nutmeg started towards the oven, hoping she could figure out something to do to hopefully save Private.

That's when she got an idea.

She stayed over there by the now fully heated open for a few moments before clearing her throat. "Savio, I'm afraid I need some help, could you come see if it's warm enough for food?" She asked and the snake grumbled but began to slither over.

As soon as he had lumped himself over by the oven, his long body curled up into a pile, Nutmeg shoved him into the oven-

"Woah wait, I shove him into the oven?" Nutmeg interrupted as she looked up in shock, mid-shove, and frankly, Savio just looked annoyed. "Isn't that a little harsh for me? Will he survive?" She asked.

…Of course Savio would survive, it would just give the two privates enough time to escape and be on their way…Yeah, we'll go with that.

Nutmeg didn't seem all that convinced.

"Now who's interrupting the narrator?" Private asked from where he was, still caged.

"Get back to the script," Savio snapped and Nutmeg sighed but did as she was told and shoved the snake into the oven, closing it up and locking it quickly.

He banged against the entrance and Nutmeg did her best to ignore him as she freed Private and the two made their escape.

They didn't stop running until they were far, far, far away from Savio and his killer candy cottage.

Finally they stopped and Nutmeg collapsed on the ground, needing a place to sit. "What will we do now? There's nowhere else for us to go…" She said quietly and Private honestly didn't know how to answer her that time.

However before he could even think of the words to say, they spotted a light, and someone calling out for them then after a few minutes a group of six appeared, there were four penguins, one lemur, and a cat.

"Hey, are you two alright?" Asked one of the penguins, this one had a flat head and was relatively short.

The two privates glanced at each other before looking back over to the group. They didn't know what to do, or what to expect.

The lemur spoke next. "You two, you are agents, Da?" She asked in a Russian accent, they both nodded. "I thought so, so are we, how about you two come home with us?" She suggested.

The two looked at each other again before agreeing to trust Skipper, Nika, and the others as they got up and followed them home, living happy ever after.

The moral of this story was don't trust strangers, but the ending kinda makes that counterproductive, so instead the moral of the story is to always trust Nutmeg's instinct.

 **CnC**

The Princess and the Frog:

Once upon a ti-

"Nyet, we are not doing that," Nika interrupted before the narrative could even really start. How rude. "That ees not good story for me, thees ees my fairytale, da?" She asked and well, the narrator couldn't deny that. "Then we read good story," she added, pulling a book out of seemingly nowhere.

"Vasilisa the Beautiful, followed by Vasilisa the Wise, you will read thees," she instructed and held the book up. It wasn't exactly what the narrator had planned, but hey, it was her fairytale, so…

Nika the Beautiful: 

In a far off Tzardom, there lived a little lemur who was so lovely that she was known as Nika the beautiful. Way to toot your own horn Nika, I feel like Julien has been rubbing off on you…anyways.

When Nika was eight, her mother was very ill and was near death, however before she died, she called for Nika and set her aside. "I have a gift for you," she said and held out a small lemur doll for the girl. "Take this, and whenever you are in need of comfort, feed it a little and it will help you," she promised.

Nika held the doll close to her, keeping what her mother said very close to heart.

Soon after, her mother did indeed die, and poor Nika was devastated, she was so heartbroken that she didn't even think about the doll for quite some time, until one day she was thinking of her mother and felt the doll in the pocket of her satchel.

She took it out and examined it for a moment. "What was eet that mother said to do? Feed eet?" She questioned out loud, which made it even sound more silly to the girl, however she decided against her better judgement to give it a chance.

So she took the small wooden doll aside and offered him some food, and then, much to her disbelief, it popped up, suddenly very much alive. If Nika had been anyone else she surely would have screamed. "You…you are alive?" She questioned the now very alive doll.

He nodded and smiled up at her. "I am when you feed me! I'm Mort, now what is it that you need?" He asked and Nika stared at him for a moment, not sure how to properly answer.

"I…I do not know, I am just very sad about my mother's passing," she finally got out and the lemur doll nodded, moving to pat her gently.

"Don't worry, close your eyes and fall asleep, things will look better in the morning," he promised and so the Russian lemur did as she was told and fell asleep for the night, and things did seem better in the morning.

After that, she would call upon Mort the doll whenever she was in need of comfort, and he would help. Her father though, was also saddened by his wife's death, he would never have remarried if it wasn't for the people who kept telling him to do just that.

So he remarried someone, someone who Nika did not approve of, she was a nasty woman, with three daughters: Yasmin, the oldest, Tip, and Tina, the youngest.

Life went on though and her father one day left, however he did not return, and although the mother was bad, she was nothing compared to the eldest sister, who was the one that would boss Nika around. Which did not go very well for either of them, lemme tell you.

Eventually the mother died, leaving the eldest daughter, Yasmin in charge. She would send Nika out everyday to do these impossible tasks in hope that she would come home and end up being the uglier of the others.

But Nika liked hard work and she liked going out into the fields and tending to the crops. Plus with the help of Mort, it really was quite easy and she only grew more beautiful, which angered Yasmin so very much.

One day, she even purposely made sure they were all out of means for a fire, in one last desperate chance to rid her and her siblings of Nika.

"Oh no, we're all out of candles and fire! Whatever shall we do?" She asked and looked over at the other three lemur girls. "One of us has to go get more…" Yasmin added.

"Well I'm not going," Tip interrupted. "Our closest neighbor is that leopard witch, Baba Cloud, and she scares me, send Nika to go, she's the strongest of us all anyways," she said and pointed over at Nika.

Nika couldn't believe these step sisters of her. "Fine, I will go and I will get the fire from Baba Cloud, since the rest of you are incompetent," she decided and left, unaware that she had given Yasmin exactly what she wanted.

Nika grumbled as she made her way through the dark night in the forest, trudging along towards Baba Cloud's hut, or at least where she assumed it was.

She traveled for hours with no luck of finding it. Then, just as she was sure she was lost, a penguin slid by, dressed in all white…which was weird, because he was a penguin after all. His name was Private, or at least that's what we'll call him for now, and as soon as he had passed, the first lights of morning appeared.

Then, a little while later, another penguin slid by, this one dressed in a fiery red, he was Kowalski, or at least, he was for now. He came by just as the middle of the day was brought upon the forest.

Nika didn't understand why there were penguins here in Russia…but then again, there were also lemurs and clouded leopards too.

She continued to walk on, all day until she finally reached a hut that was made entirely out of bones. Nika could barely suppress a shudder, and as soon as she reached the hut, the final penguin slid passed, dressed in all black and laughing maniacally, he was Rico…for now at least.

But Rico wasn't the only thing to finally show up by then, because that's when Baba Cloud appeared, the leopard was huge and utterly terrifying and all Nika could do was stare in shock as she approached the hut and began to sing a simple little tune to open it up, skulls glowing brightly as she spoke.

 _"Little hut, little hut_

 _Turn towards me with your door_

 _Turn your back to the forest_

 _And your face to me!"_

Then, much to Nika's horror, as soon as the door was thrust open, Cloud turned her nose to the forest and took a long whiff. "Well, if there isn't someone else here, come out, show yourself!" She ordered and Nika walked out.

"My name ees Nika, I have been sent by my step sisters to gather a source of fire from you," she said bravely, not about to back down from a challenge, that just wasn't how she rolled.

Cloud curled her lips up in a snarl. "Your step sisters? I know them. Yasmin and the other two, Tip and Tina, very well, I will let you work for your fire, you will come with me and work, and if you do not complete my tasks, I will eat you," she decided and Nika's eyed widened before she glared.

No cat was gong to eat her, however before she could storm off, the black wearing penguin from before had snuck up behind her and pushed her into the hut, with Cloud following after as then the door was shut tight, and Nika was stuck.

The witch had instantly given Nika a list of chores to do and once again warned her to complete them before she came back or else she would have her for dinner, and just like that, Cloud had left.

Nika couldn't do all of this in time, she may be skilled but she wasn't that skilled, she would never manage, she was going to be eaten for sure, oh she was beginning to panic, that is until she remembered her doll. Nika instantly pulled out the wooden doll and placed him aside on the counter. She fed him and waited for Mort to spring to life.

"Do not fear Nika, I will handle all the chores but cooking dinner, you can do that," he suggested and Nika quickly agreed to that, so the two of them got to work and before they knew it, the chores were done and Mort went to hide in Nika's satchel as the witch returned.

Baba Cloud seemed shocked that Nika had been able to complete all of the tasks already.

She frowned. "Hmm…well, I will give you more tomorrow, and if you can complete those, then you will have your light," she decided and ordered Nika to get some sleep, as she would be busy the next day.

But, much to the annoyance of that leopard, Nika(with the help of Mort) completed all the tasks given to her before Cloud got back, and so, by the end of that next day, Cloud would have to give her the light that she had requested.

"Well, you have completed the tasks I had given you, so I suppose that means I will let you ask me some questions and give you your light, now what are your questions?" Baba Cloud asked as she looked over at Nika.

Nika thought for a moment, as she had just come for the light, not for questions, but she soon found at least one she would like to know. "Who are those three penguins?" She asked and Cloud answered, giving a bit of a smile.

"Well, the first one is Private, by precious Dawn. The next was Kowalski, my smart Day, and the last was Rico, my daring Night. They work for me as servants," she answered with ease as she looked away, paws clasped behind her back and tail swishing about behind her. "Do you have any other questions?" She asked, though by the way she had asked, it made it sound like she was daring Nika to ask something else.

Nika was going to ask about the bones, when her satchel shook beside her, and she held back. If Mort thought it was a bad idea to ask, she would listen to him. "No, that ees all," she decided and Cloud nodded.

"Now, I have a question for you, how did you complete all those tasks?"

Nika paused, she couldn't give away her secret wooden doll, but she had to say something, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "With my mother's blessing," she answered and Cloud instantly turned to sneer at her.

"I will not have anyone in here who is blessed, get out! Now!" She hissed, tossing Nika a skull lamp and throwing her out, Baba Cloud simply couldn't allow blessed people to stay with her, what kind of message would that send to the other evil witches and wizards?

Nika landed on the ground with a thud and dusted herself off. "Well, that was rude," she decided with a shake of her head before she was on her way. Trudging through the forests as she started back to the home, making sure to keep an eye out for the three penguins of the day, they were quite interesting after all.

She returned home and showed them the light and it instantly incinerated them all, leaving only Nika, she was so surprised that she dropped the lamp, and the very next day, she buried it by the house and left.

Nika ended up staying with an older lemur, named Maurice, she got to sewing with the help of Mort, and made such an impressive cloth it impressed the Tsar, Julien, but that is a whole other story, one we certainly don't have the time to cover right now.

 **CnC**

The Prince and the Cat: 

A long time ago, in a far off land there lived a prince. He was a penguin unlike any other, with a flat head and a very particular way of doing things, he was loved by all in the land, until one day when he was taken captive by an evil dolphin named Doctor Blowhole, who kept him hidden up high in a tall tower, with nothing but a small window to get to or from.

Despite his hardest attempts to escape, he never managed to do so, however our story really isn't about him, but it's a good starter if anything else. Our story is actually about the adventurer that saved him.

A daring, long furred black and white cat named Ty.

Now Ty was not a cat to mess with, she was cunning and stealthy, with a love of taking risks and doing things most people would consider stupid, she was the perfect cat to rescue the prince.

Ty was living her life to the fullest when two knights showed up at the tavern she was at. Sir Kowalski and Sir Nika…who was actually a girl, but whatever.

The cat was in the middle of an arm wrestle when the two knights approached. "Excuse me, but are you by any chance, Taylor Cinderz?" Kowalski asked as he walked over. Nika quickly following after.

She glanced over at them, and then back to the Rat King who she was arm wrestling. "That would be me, call me Ty," she instructed as she slammed the mutated rat's arm to the table and stood up to accept the cheers thrown her way before she then focused more on these two knights. "What can I do for you?"

Kowalski looked over at Nika, who nodded to him before he turned back to Ty and cleared his throat. "Well you see, Prince Skipper has been kidnapped by Doctor Blowhole and though many people have tried to save him, none of us have been able to…we were hoping you might give it a chance," the penguin explained, looking at her hopefully.

Ty looked the two over carefully and for a second Nika worried she wasn't going to accept, but then she smiled at them. "Sure, I'll rescue your prince, it'll be easy. Just tell me where to go and I'll be on my way," she said as she started to collect her things.

"Wait, don't you want a hero's farewell? We were all planned to royally send you off…" Kowalski interrupted and Ty waved him off with her paw.

"Nah, just tell me where to go and I'll be on my way, I'll return him to the castle in a few days, though I do expect payment," she added, glancing over at them with a raised brow.

Nika instantly nodded. "Of course, ve have payment ready for whoever saves the prince," she explained and Ty nodded, finished collecting her things and starting to the door.

"Good, alright, time to go save me a prince."

So, just like that, Ty was on her way, after getting directions of course. It would take her about two days to get there and then two days to get back, but she was prepared. She had her weapons at the ready, a plan in her head, and the only thing that she wasn't sure about, was what kind of wimpy prince this would end up being, hopefully one that didn't slow her down on the way back.

Two days came and gone far quicker than she had thought and soon enough, Ty found herself standing in front of a rickety old bridge that lead to a tower surrounded by crocodile infested water. It would certainly be hard to get there, but she was determined.

Ty smirked as she stepped onto the bridge. "Let's do this."

She took another step and the old wood broke beneath her, falling into the water to get snatched up by one of the large scaly green lizards. Ty took a breath to calm herself. "It's just a bit of water Ty, you can do this," she soothed herself as she took another step onto the bridge, being all the more determined to get across.

The bridge was starting to fall apart though, so Ty leapt across the wooden pieces at top speed, them all breaking behind her, she just barely managed to reach the ground by the tower without falling into the water.

She inhaled sharply and glanced back at the water. "Phew…we'll uh, we'll worry about a way to get back later," she decided before turing to the tower. "Hmm no entrance…guess I'll just have to climb," Ty decided and reached into her bag, pulling out a grabbling hook as she threw it up and it hooked itself onto the window.

Ty smirked as she started to scale the building. "This is way easier than I thought it would be," she decided.

She would regret saying that as soon as she got inside.

Ty finally climbed through the window to find the penguin prince in the middle of fighting some dolphin guy, who she assumed was the bad guy, you know, the guy that was supposed to be the dragon for her to kill. He was totally beating her to it. "Hey!" She snapped, getting the attention of Skipper. "I'm here to save you," she explained.

Skipper laughed light heartedly as he aimed another punch to the dolphin on his weird ride. "I don't need saving," he explained and went in for another hit.

Ty frowned. "At least let me help, I didn't come all this way to just watch you get free on your on," she said as she pulled her sword out and started towards the fight, instantly getting herself involved.

That's when the dolphin guy called for reinforcements and hundreds of lobsters started piling in through a hatch. Guess there was a door that she just didn't see, must have been one that only the dolphin guy and the lobsters specifically used.

"This is a lot of lobsters," she said and exhaled loudly.

"Well, you didn't have to come Kitty," Skipper interrupted as he started to fight off the lobsters, with Doctor Blowhole making his escape.

Ty glared at him. "Well Skippy, this is my fairytale, you're supposed to be play the prince in need of saving, remember?" She asked, breaking character. This seems to be a reoccurring problem with these characters here, the narrator doesn't know what to do with them.

"I don't do 'needs saving' Kitty, you should know that by now," Skipper told her as Ty passed him a sword so he could fight the lobsters a bit better with that.

"Yeah I know that, but this is not how the story is supposed to go," she said as she threw a few lobsters out the window.

"It's more fun this way though," Skipper countered and Ty did have to agree with that.

So the two fought off the lobsters, it was a long a tedious battle, but they managed to fight them all off until finally it was just the two of them in the tower. Ty panted slightly and brushed her paws together as she looked over at Skipper. "So, if you didn't need saving, why didn't you leave before?" She asked.

Skipper shrugged as he leaned against the wall. "I'm good but not even I could've fought off of those lobsters by myself," he explained as he moved over to the hatch and opened it up to reveal a stairway leading down. "Plus I didn't know where this was until Blowhole paid me a visit earlier," he added and Ty nodded in understanding.

"Ah, alright, makes sense I guess," she said as she put her sword away and gestured for Skipper to start down the stairs, which he did and Ty followed after him. "Shame that he got away though," she added as they both continued the walk down the many stairs.

Skipper muttered his agreement. "True, but at least this way there leaves way for a sequel," he added and Ty couldn't help but grin and very lightly purr at that.

"Maybe that time you'll actually need rescuing," she mused, tail swishing about behind her and Skipper let out a laugh.

"Unlikely, maybe next time you'll be the one in need of saving Kitty," he countered, which made Ty scoff lightly.

"You wish Skippy."

So the two left the tower, having a bit of a difficulty getting away from the crocodiles that time, but they managed…somehow, and they journeyed home, back to the castle, where Ty did indeed get her reward, and although she couldn't stay there, she did agree to stick around the kingdom, and her and Skipper would meet fairly often for whatever they chose to do.

In the end, the princess was a prince…and a penguin, the dragon was a dolphin, the knight in shining armor was a cat, and no one actually needed saving, because sometimes even the simplest of fairytales have a different ending from what you might be expecting.

The End.

 **Me: Well that's it, I just wanted a nice happy chapter, y'know? Especially since the next few are gonna be super dark.**

 **Kia: Spoilers. Also, if you couldn't tell, the fairytales that Misty used were "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Hansel and Gretel," "Vasilisa the Beautiful," and "The Princess and the Dragon," but with her own twist of course.**

 **Me: Speaking of Vasilisa the Beautiful, I totally got hooked on that one, it's such an incredible story…I may have to actually write a story centered around that fairytale. Also, I'm totally sorry for randomly ditching for over a year, I'm actually back this time.**

 **Kia: However not for all her stories.**

 **Me: Right, so uh guys, I'm sorry but I'm only gonna keep on on SnW, and a CnCD, otherwise, all my other stories have been dropped, sorry…**

 **Kia: Alright, onto the preview…**

 **Me: Right!**

 ** _Next time on Smile 'N Wave:_**

 _"Wait, what do you mean you're banned from ever returning to Russia? Nika that's your birth place, that's where you grow up, you still take vacations there," Ty said, clearly confused as she looked at the lemur in utter confusion._

 _Nika looked away, avoiding eye contact with the cat, or anyone else on her team…or anyone else in the room for that matter, oh why did everyone have to be here for this? "Well…I…I lied, the truth ees that I have not been able to go home since I was seventeen," she confessed quietly._

 **Me: Alright, that's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Kia: Tell us what your favorite fairytale twist was in a review!**

 **Me: Bye guys! Thanks for sticking with us, I love you all, bye!**


	13. D'yavol Nindzya pt 1

**Me: Hello CnCuddlers, I told you that we're officially back and I meant it, here we are already, with the next chapter of SnW!**

 **Kia: A rather dark and revealing chapter at that.**

 **Me: True, but I mean, who hasn't been curious about Nika's past? It's all sort of mysterious don't you think?**

 **Kia: Ooh mystery.**

 **Me: Yep, I'll let y'all read now, thanks for sticking with us all even despite that mega long break, it means a lot to us. In fact, it means so much that Kia made everyone fish cookies!…I uh, I bought normal cookies if you didn't want the fish ones…**

 **Kia: *Holds up plate of cookies and fish cookies* enjoy everyone!**

 **Me: to the story, full thrust ahead Kia!**

Nika started to the lemur habitat. Kia was teaching Koko some sort of math equations, Ty was hanging out with the Penguins for some reason…she had been spending more time around them lately, and then Nutmeg was being entertained by Hazel, who had appointed herself to be the official person to watch over Nutmeg, even though it was kind of the other way around.

So, considering everyone was off doing their own things, Nika didn't see anything wrong seeing what the lemurs were up to for a bit.

She flipped into the habitat and was instantly greeted by some sort of mango fort, which took up a large portion of the habitat. Nika smiled slightly and peered over it, as it wasn't that tall, to see Hugo, Tina, Mort, and Micky. "Hello," she greeted with a bit of a wave.

"Oh, hey there Nika!" Tina greeted as the four of them waved. "Looking for King Julien?" She questioned with a tilt of her head and Nika nodded. "He's over at the smoothie bar, hey maybe later you could join us in our fort?" She suggested.

Nika thought about it for a moment for two before she nodded in agreement. "I just might have to," she agreed before waving goodbye and starting over to the smoothie bar, where Julien was talking to Maurice about something.

She approached and smiled. "Hi," Nika greeted and was instantly enveloped in a hug from Julien.

"Nika! I am so glad you are here!" Julien told her and Nika couldn't really help a small smile from starting as she hugged him back, he was always so enthusiastic and definitely made her feel wanted, it was nice.

"I am happy to see you too Julien," Nika said as she parted from the hug and glanced over towards Maurice, nodding to him as he got to work on making a few more smoothies. "I don't know how long I can stay, but since my team ees not doing anyving right now, I wanted to visit," she explained.

Julien smiled at her, he then glanced back at something else while Nika talked to Maurice, he gave a thumbs up to whoever he was looking at, before turning his attention back to Nika, sliding over to her. "Er Nika, could you please be uh, getting some mangos from de mango fort over there…for a smoothie?" He asked.

Nika raised her brow at him but gave a nod all the same as she started over to see if she could take some mangos, she had just reached the fort when she heard Julien scream and looked back over to see him being taken by some dressed in all black, cloaked figures.

"Ahhh, Nika, help!" He called over and Nika quickly snapped out of whatever pause she had been in and instantly started to run over to him as the hooded figures started towards the park. She quickened her pace, running across the walls of the zoo, jumping towards the nearest tree.

It really wasn't long before she caught up and jumped out from one of the trees, wasting no time kicking the first figure away, sending them flying into the nearest tree as she then went after two of the others, having grabbed two big sticks from the tree she had been in, she twirled them around for a moment before throwing herself at them, whacking the first in the stomach with the first stick and then tripping the taller one with the other.

They were all coming back at her again, needless to say, she was pretty invested into the fight by then, unaware that Julien was just standing there by one, which looked suspiciously like a cat.

She glared at the four hooded figures, jumping into the air and whacking them all with her sticks as she spun around, dropping the sticks to pounce at the second shortest one, they dodged and the two ended up in a sparring match, that lasted a minute or so before Nika gave up on honorable fighting and kicked him right in the stomach as she wrapped her tail around his ankle and sent him flying towards the tallest one.

The two tumbled over and Nika turned to face the two that were left, glaring determinedly as she charged at them and tripped one as she flipped over to the other side of the last and punched him, sending him at the other.

After she was sure it would at least take a moment to get up, she turned to face the one by Julien and jumped at her, tackling her to the ground and getting ready to attack when the person spoke, putting their gloved paws up in the air.

"Woah, Nika, stop, it's me: Ty," she said quickly and took off the mask to reveal her face and Nika blinked in confusion.

"Ty?…" She questioned, getting off the cat as she shook herself out of the fighting mode and paid attention to everyone else as they took off their own masks. It was the Penguins. "I…I don't understand…why were you kidnapping Julien?" Nika asked, looking from Ty to Skipper, to Kowalski, to Rico, to Private, and then finally to Julien.

The lemur king cleared his throat. "Er, it was uh, it was my idea," he confessed a bit sheepishly and Nika looked at him, still clearly confused.

"You…asked them to kidnap you?" She asked and Julien nodded, figuring he finally had to explain.

"Yeah, see I was trying to propose!" Julien said quickly and straightened his crown. "You were supposed to come after me and then I was to be saying: 'You have saved me, would you like to save me for the rest of my life by becoming my queen?' and then you were going to accept as we were going to be married," he explained quickly.

Nika was silent for a good long minute or two before she finally spoke, expression blank and voice emotionless. "You…you were proposing," she stated as if trying to digest that new inspiration as she spoke.

Julien nodded along eagerly. "Uh-huh, so…is that being a yes?" He asked slyly, grinning flirtatiously at her.

Once again, she fell quiet, a minute passed before she just turned around and walked away, hands curled up into fists as she walked out of the park and back to the zoo.

Everything was quiet for a minute before Skipper spoke up, looking over at the dejected lemur king. "Well Ringtail, that did not go well."

 **CnC**

Kia watched as Nika entered their HQ, the lemur didn't say anything, instead she just collapsed onto the couch and screamed into the pillow. It was her go-to stress reliever that didn't involve violence. "Went that bad? I knew it was a bad idea, but…Julien was so determined…"

Nika looked up from the pillow, clutching it close to her chest. "You knew?" She asked and Kia nodded, offering her a sheepish smile.

"I heard from the Penguins, Ty heard too and wanted to help, she thought you would appreciate being able to have an excuse to hit people," Kia explained as Koko wrote some sort of advanced math down on a pad in front of her.

Nika huffed and planted her face into the pillow again. "Well, I did not enjoy eet…" She said weakly and Nutmeg looked over at her from her spot at the table with Hazel, they were doing a puzzle.

"What did you say?" The squirrel asked with a tilt of her head as she idly put a puzzle piece away.

Nika was quiet for a few moments before letting out a long sigh. "Nothing…"

Hazel raised her brow as she put another piece down. "Nothing?" She repeated dryly. "Wow, that…that's a pretty bad reaction, I can't wait to see how you plan to defuse this situation, personally I just suggest wiping everyone's memory, no one has to remember what happened," she said.

Kia sent her a glare. "Not helping," she warned and the brown feathered penguin gave an uncaring shrug as she went back to focusing on the puzzle. Kia then put her focus back on Nika. "Why didn't you say anything, you love him, don't you?" She asked.

"Da…But, eet all reminded me of how people tried to take him away and kill him…I did not know how to say anyving…" Nika confessed as she finally sat up, still hugging the pillow close to her chest as she played with one of the pillow's corners.

Kia gave an understanding nod. "I can understand that. What are you going to say?" She asked, looking over at Nika carefully. Nika had always been hesitant to move forward with things, she was afraid to really let herself be happy, if that made sense.

Nika was silent for a moment, content to look down at the floor. "I…I don't know, I think maybe I will stay here, een the HQ forever eenstead," she explained childishly and Kia rolled her eyes, she opened her beak to speak when suddenly there was a loud thumping coming from above their HQ and they looked at each other for a moment before giving silent nods and heading up top to see what was going on.

 **CnC**

It was a good thing that the zoo was closed on Sunday, or else there would certainly be a problem. You see, just as the Penguins, Ty, and King Julien made it back to the zoo, with Julien asking what had he done wrong, a large Siberian tiger had showed up at the zoo, with an even larger brown bear in tow.

"Where ees D'yavol Nindzya?" The tiger asked, looking at all the zoo animals with a glint in his eyes as if he was attempting eating them. Along with that, the bear looked just about ready to attack anything with those huge metal clubs in either paw.

The tiger carried no weapons with him, but it didn't seem like he needed them.

"D'yavol Nindzya, where ees she? Do not try lying to me, we know this ees where she ees," the tiger added as he glared at them all. "No one willing to speak? Fine. Igor, give them a leetle motivation, da?" He asked and sent a glance back over to the bear.

Who grinned and swung his clubs at the otter habitat, breaking the wall, making the nearby animals flinch. "Now," the tiger spoke up. "Where ees Nikita Ivanov, othervise known as D'yavol Nindzya?" He asked, and when no one spoke, he growled. "Eef no one speaks, Igor will give you reason to," he warned and the giant bear held his clubs up threateningly.

"I am right here," Nika exclaimed as she approached from somewhere in between the penguin and the lemur habitat. "Now, who ees asking?" She asked, looking over the larger animals carefully, they were clearly Russian, and they knew her code name…and her real name, which was trouble.

The tiger focused on the lemur and smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. "You are smaller than I had thought," he told her and Nika glared. "I am Bogdon, this ees my partner: Igor, we have been sent to bring you back to Russia, to pay for your crimes committed against the people, the R.A.G, and all of mother Russia," he explained. "There, you will face your punishment," he added and smirked.

Nika glared back at him. "Nyet, I will not go back. Eef you wish to take me back, you will do eet with my dead, cold body," she spat back and Bogdon grinned.

"That can be arranged."

Nika turned to Kia as she took off her hat. "Here, hold this for me," she instructed and handed Kia the hat.

"You can't seriously be thinking of fighting them by yourself, I'm helping," Kia instructed determinedly and Nika shook her head, the two conversed very quickly in Russian before Kia took a step back and Nika turned to face the larger mammals.

"You want me? Come get me," she said as she climbed up onto the zoo's wall, she wasn't going to fight in the zoo, that might ruin everything.

Bogdon nodded to Igor and the bear charged at her, swinging his club at her, Nika got hit and went flying into the park, with the two other Russian's following after.

Ty, the Penguins, Julien, and Nutmeg all rushed over to Kia. "What the heck is going on Kia?" Ty asked, looking at the penguin frantically, while she held the beret in her ands and looked down at it.

"People from Russia are here for Nika, she…she's ordered us to stay back, she says this is her fight, and she has to do it alone," Kia explained and Ty scoffed, already pulling out a nice collection of weapons out of her backpack.

"That's not gonna happen, we're a team, her enemies are my enemies. I'm going to go help her fight, are you with me?" She asked Kia, looking her over skeptically, Kia seemed unsure, not wanting to disobey Nika, but in the end she nodded and handed the beret over to Nutmeg.

"I'm with you," she decided and Ty smiled at her.

"If you're going Kitty, so am I," Skipper interrupted, looking over at Ty, she nodded and Skipper turned to his team. "Men, I won't ask you to help, there's no reason for you to risk yourselves," he explained.

Kowalski looked at him. "With all due respect sir, she's a friend, I'm going to help," he explained and Private and Rico both voiced their agreement.

Ty smirked. "Great, let's go," she said as she started to the park, pausing when she heard the sound of wheels as well and turned to see Nutmeg determinedly following after them in her wheelchair. Ty paused and looked at her. "Nutmeg…you're…"

"Still part of this team. Ty, I'm going to help Nika, and I don't care what you have to say about it," Nutmeg explained and the two had a stare off for a few seconds before Ty let out a sigh and gestured for them all to pick up the speed again.

"Fair enough, just…don't get hurt," Ty told her as she started out again. With the others all following her.

 **CnC**

Nika fell into a tree into the park, which was lucky for her, otherwise her landing would have hurt a lot worse. She got up and watched as the two creatures started towards her tree, clearly they could smell her. She furrowed her brow and took a deep breath. she could do this, she had to, she…she couldn't go back.

So as soon as they were close enough, she leapt out of the tree and aimed a punch at the tiger, Bogdon, getting him in the face and making him tumble back for a bit, after which she jumped to the bear and aimed another few hits at them.

She was strong, however Nika was still one very small lemur going up against two very large predators, there was no way she could do this without a weapon.

A weapon.

Nika smirked slightly, eying one of the clubs carefully as the bear charged at her and she leapt into the air, flipping onto his back and hitting him hard in the neck, making him collapse forward, she took that as an opportunity to grab the club.

It was a lot heavier than she though, however she stared determinedly at Bogdon as he started over on all fours to get a better grip of the floor and Nika tightened her grip on the club, then as soon as he got close enough, she swung with all her might, right at his face.

Needless to say, Bogdon got hit smack dab in his face and fell backwards. The weapon was still too heavy for Nika, but she was determined to manage with it as she swung at him again, trying to ignore the sweat at her brow, or how easily she was tiring with the club's extra weight.

However while she was fighting with Bogdon, Igor had gotten back up with a club of his own and bashed Nika in the back with it, she let out a wail of pain, getting flung into the trunk of the nearest tree, her club forgotten.

Her back still hurt, and she had gotten the wind blown out of her for the moment, so she was stuck at the bottom of the tree as Bogdon got up, wiping at his face, which was clearly bleeding from the nose.

"Otlichnaya rabota Igor," Bogon congratulated him as the two walked over to Nika and Bogdon leaned down, resting an elbow on his knee. "Now, Nikita, eet ees time to meet your fate," he told her, and Nika spit in his face. He hissed and wiped at his face, and once he looked again, Nika had climbed up the arm reaching to grab her and glared at him, looking right at his eyes.

"Nyet," she said and curled her fist up to much him again, which angered Bogdon plenty, why did she have to keep going for his face? He growled at swatted at her, throwing her over towards Igor, who caught her in his mouth.

Nika was struggling to free herself when he started to crunch down, crushing her in his jaws and she let out another cry of pain.

"Drop her."

The Russians turned around to see five penguins, a cat, a lemur, and a squirrel all there staring him down, each with some high tech weapons. It had been Kia who spoke up.

Bogdon smirked and looked at them. "Those are nice weapons, but thees ees not your business. Thees only involves D'yavol Nindzya," he explained. "We're with the R.A.G, and we've been looking for her for very long time, eet ees time to bring her to justice," he explained.

Kia glared a them. "Ona yavlyayetsya chast'yu moyey komandy, agentom W.A.L, prinimaya yeye protiv W.A.L, vy ne mozhete prosto vzyat' yeye," she told them fiercely and the tiger seemed momentarily surprised that she could speak Russian so well.

He glanced over at Igor, who nodded and he scoffed before turning back and leaning down in front of Kia, placing a large claw directly under her beak, forcing her to look up at him. "Khorosho, my ostavim yeye s vami do zakata, eto dolzhno dat' yey dostatochno vremeni, chtoby vse ob"yasnit'. Po zakatu, ty s gotovnost'yu peredash' yeye nam, pover' mne. Nikto ne khochet, chtoby eto bylo v ikh komande," he told her before getting up and nodding to Igor, who dropped Nika on the ground.

"Proshchay fvightless birds, and ve kitten, squirrel, and lemur as well. We will return at dusk," Bogdon said as he and Igor walked off, leaving the teams alone.

They all rushed over to Nika as she shakily sat up. "Are you okay? what happened? What was all that Russian stuff?" Ty asked as he knelt down by Nika, who accepted her help up easily.

"I am…well I hurt, but I am fine. Those two are workers for R.A.G, the Russian Animal Government, they are after me because I need to pay for crimes I committed een Russia. They are giving us until sundown, enough time for me to explain, and for you to decide to hand me to them willingly," Nika explained as she stood up.

"We'd never do that," Nutmeg said stubbornly and Nika looked over at her, and then at the ground.

"We vwill see…" Nika told her and looked over at Kia. "I…I should explain now, shouldn't I?" She asked and Kia sent her a pitying look, she shouldn't have to explain… "Do not look at me like that soldat, they vould have all found out sooner or later…" She said before focusing on everyone else. "Let's go into our HQ, there, I vwill…I vwill explain everything," Nika promised, leading them towards Team Watermelon's HQ.

 **CnC**

Soon everyone was in Team Watermelon's HQ, Nutmeg was checking Nika over, making sure she wasn't too badly injured, while Kia had made everyone some coffee or hot chocolate to drink while Nika waiting for Nutmeg to finish so she could explain.

Once Nutmeg was done, Nika looked everyone over. There were the penguins, her team, Julien, and even Hazel and Koko were there in the background, she really didn't like that there seemed to be almost everyone there for this…but, it…it was better this way, they would have found out eventually.

"I am sure you all have questions…But before we get to that, let me explain," Nika said, refusing to look anyone in the eyes. "I…I vas not always a W.A.L agent, before then, I vas an assassin in Russia, my code name vas D'yavol Nindzya, or in English: The Devil's Ninja, I vas called that because I never got caught, some did not even believe me, I went een, did my job, and left," she started, noticing the silence that hung in the air after every word.

She sighed, glancing over at Kia, the only person she had trusted before with her past. Kia gave her a reassuring smile and Nika nodded to her before she continued "Then, one day, I vas caught. R.A.G vas supposed to bring me een, but eenstead I fought them, eet vas only thing I could do, eet had not been my choice to live that way, and I would have been thrown een nearest gulag…So I ran, and now, eet does not matter, they are here for me again," she said.

Ty frowned. "Okay well they can't just take you. You said it wasn't your choice, right? Well let's go to Russia and clear it up, explain everything, get you off the hook-"

"Nyet…I cannot go back," Nika interrupted and the cat looked at her, clearly confused."I..I am banned from returning."

Ty blinked. "Wait, what do you mean you're banned from ever returning to Russia? Nika, that's your birth place, that's where you grew up, you still take vacations to there," Ty said, clearly confused as she looked at the lemur in utter confusion.

Nika looked away, avoiding eye contact with the cat and anyone else in her team, or anyone else there for that matter. Oh why did everyone have to be here for this? "Well, I…I lied, the truth ees that I have not been able to go home since I vas seventeen," she confessed.

Nika took a shaky breath. "I cannot go back because when I ran, I vas warned, that eef I ever return, I would be killed on spot, I am…banned from ever going back, een a way," she confessed, looking down at the cup she was holding.

The room fell quiet after that, no one spoke a word, and Nika worried she may have scared everyone away. She sighed, closing her eyes tight. "I understand…eef none of you wish to help me anymore, eet must not be easy, knowing you are friends with someone who has been lying forever, and who was an assassin," she spoke up, and more silence followed.

That is until Kia finally spoke up. "You know I don't care about your past Nika, you've told me these things before and I will not let them take you back, even if I have to fight them on my own," she said and Nika gave her a small, grateful smile.

"Don't worry Kia, you won't be fighting alone," Ty interrupted. "Look Nika, everyone, especially agents like ourselves, have done some pretty sketchy stuff in our pasts, it's gonna take more that that to get rid of me," the cat purred out and Nutmeg spoke up.

"We're a team, and a team sticks together, no matter what, I'll help any way I can," Nutmeg said to Nika with a smile before she, Kia, and Ty turned their attention to the other people in the room. Waiting for their answers.

Skipper was the first to speak up. "Banned from a country, I've been there, and I'll help settle this too," he agreed, having his team agree soon enough, after all, Kowalski would stand by his wife, Private wanted to help, and Rico figured it was a chance to use his explosives on some Russians.

Nika smiled and opened her mouth to thank them when she spotted Julien leave and she stopped herself for a moment to watch him walk out. Her shoulders sagged and she tried her best not to think about it as she focused on the Penguins. "Thank you, eet means a lot to me that you are all so willing to help," she told them.

It was quiet for a moment or two before Ty spoke up again. "So uh…what's the plan?" She asked, and everyone shared an unsure look, none quite sure yet.

 **CnC**

Soon enough it was sundown.

Nika glanced over at the others. "I do not think this will work," she told them and Ty brushed her off with a wave of her paw.

"Don't doubt my plan Nika, it's amazing, besides, this is the only way we can do this without getting in trouble with R.A.G and getting you off the hook, so just…roll with it, okay?" She asked and Nika sighed but nodded.

"Fine," she agreed and right then Kia walked over.

"They're here," she said and Nika nodded.

"Right. Operation: Stroganoff ees a go,' she said and her team nodded as they started to head out of the base, hopefully the Penguins would be ready for this as well, it would not be easy to pull off and it would be long.

The team walked out and started over to the bear and the tiger that were waiting for them.

Bogdon smiled as he looked down at them all. "Come to your senses, have you? Ya dovolen," he said and looked at Nika, who had her paws tied up behind her, hat no longer on her head. "Eet seems your friends have betrayed you, now, I will take you from here," he said and went to grab the lemur, only to have his paw slapped away by a much smaller cat paw.

"Wait just a second there, fellow feline. Nike's apart of our team, we're coming with you, and we've already contacted our generals about it, so don't even think of excluding us buster," Ty hissed defensively over to him.

Bogdon raised his brow and was silent for a moment or two before he nodded. "Very well, our helicopter ees hidden een the park, come along," he ordered as he started to head out and the four members of the team shared a look before nodding and following after.

Bogdon and Igor lead them to their helicopter and they all got in, it started up and soon they were off. On their way to Russia, it would be a long fight.

 **CnC**

Meanwhile the Penguins were setting everything up in the HQs.

"Alright, and you understand that we're leaving you two in charge of both HQ's, and making sure no one is suspicious, it's a big responsibility, are you sure you can handle it, Hazel?" Kowalski asked the brown feathered penguin warily.

Hazel nodded. "Geez Koala, it's like you don't trust me or anything. Don't worry, Koko and I have everything under control here, and besides, I'm not going to do anything bad without you guys here to stop me," Hazel promised, rolling her eyes.

Kowalski didn't seem so sure.

"Kowalski, get moving soldier, Watermelon already left with the Ruskis," Skipper interrupted by the entrance of their habitat and Kowalski nodded, sending Hazel one last unsure look before he hugged Koko and followed Skipper topside.

"Men," Skipper started as he looked his team over. "Team Watermelon is on their way to Russia, and their going to need help, we'll be taking their jet and meeting up with them there-Kowalski, you still got that tracking thing for Kia?" He asked, looking over at Kowalski.

He nodded and held up a device. "Yes sir."

"Good. Rico, how are we doing on supplies?" Skipper asked and looked over at Rico, who jiggled his belly before giving nodding. Skipper nodded. "Alright men, let's head out!" He ordered as he slid off towards the hanger for Team Watermelon's jet, with his team following directly behind him.

They made it soon enough and all piled in the rather pink inside of the jet. Private, Kowalski, and Rico all got in their seats while Skipper made his way to the pilot's seat and sat down. "Alright men, hold on tight,' he ordered.

"Skippah sir, have you ever flown a jet before?" Private asked from his seat and Skipper chuckled slightly, which did not help settle his nerves.

"No, but there's a first time for anything, right?" He asked as he started up the jet and they took off, hopefully Skipper knew what he was doing or else this could end very badly for them.

 **Me: Alright, end of part one. It wasn't originally supposed to be a two parter but here we go. Also, I'll be updating a CnCD either tomorrow or Monday, so that's something to look forward too.**

 **Kia: We hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's been one Misty has been planning for a long time and she's glad to finally have gotten it out.**

 **Me: You can say that again, alright let's get to the next time.**

 ** _Next Time on SnW:_**

 _"Come with me if you want to live."_

 _Nika looked over the strange bird suspiciously. "How can I trust you? I do not even know you," she countered and glanced behind her, the sounds of footsteps getting louder and louder, her stomach instantly began to turn again. She was running out of time…_

 _"Please, you have to believe me, I work with your cousin," the bird said quickly and Nika instantly snapped her attention back to it._

 _"You know Ivanko?" She questioned, sounding a bit unsure, that couldn't be…_

 _The bird nodded. "Yes, now are you with me, or would you rather stay here and wait for them to find you?" It questioned._

 **Me: Alright, bye guys! See ya next time!**

 **Kia: We don't actually see them-but, I'll let it slide this time, bye CnCuddlers!**

 **Me: Bye!**


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